Dark Angel 4: The Devil With Angel Eyes
by Northern-Southern Belle
Summary: Everyone suffers when Roxie feels the need to rebel against her parents' divorce and her own accidental marriage by doing whatever she can to declare her own independence. But when someone comes after her, marriage doesn't seem so bad after all.
1. Set Adrift

Disclaimer: Only plot and original characters belong to me.

Vince put his hands on Roxie's shoulders. "Calm down," he said. "I can explain..."

"What's there to explain?" Roxie raged. "You _lied_ to me, didn't you? You told me we were going to Hawaii, got me in a plane under false pretenses and then drugged me so I would marry you. What is your _problem_?"

"It wasn't my idea," Vince said. "Your dad suggested we come here. And that we should get married. Something about our future happiness depending on it, actually. So if you're upset, take it up with him."

"Oh, this is_ just _great!" Roxie raged, pushing Vince away. "I told you that if you became his hybrid you would end up doing everything he said. And it's_ just _like a man to say that the only way I'm going to be happy is if I get married. I don't care if Dad said it, I do _not_ want to be married right now! I'm going to find whoever did this to us and make them undo it right now!" She pulled the covers off the bed, put them around herself and stalked out of the villa, while Vince gazed out at the ocean, thinking that it would probably do Roxie some good to have a swim later.

* * *

><p>Clutching the blanket tighter, Roxie strode down the beach until she literally ran into a guy coming in from the surf. Growling, she pushed him onto the sand and continued on her way toward the fanciest hut.<p>

"Just a minute!" The young man called, running after her. He was breathing hard. "Stop, stop, stop!"

"Fine!" Roxie said, turning around. "What do _you_ want?"

The young man pushed blonde hair out of his eyes and gave Roxie a concerned look. "Are you okay?"

Roxie shook her head. "No, I'm_ not _okay! I was just dragged here on a plane by my boyfriend who told me we were going on a romantic getaway to Hawaii for a week." She paused. "Is this Hawaii?"

He shook his head. "No."

Roxie laughed bitterly and nodded. "I thought not." She sighed. "I had a goofy drink that made me woozy and the next thing you know, I have a ring on my finger because apparently, I got married a few hours ago, even though I don't remember a thing."

"So you're her!" The young man said. "I'm Frankie, nice to meet you."

Roxie grudgingly took his hand. "What do you mean I'm _her_?" She asked.

"The Great One's daughter?" Frankie asked. "The Beautiful One's daughter?"

Roxie burst out laughing. "You're a great kidder, Frankie. Calling my dad The Great One. Heh. Although I wouldn't put it past him to do something like that. It _would be_ completely in character."

"Our leader has pictures of him," Frankie said. "And he also has the ability to communicate with him when necessary. Typically though, the Great One comes by to visit every fifty years or so. I wasn't alive when he made his last visit, but my grandfather spent the evening with your mother after she and your father got married and he said the experience was quite memorable."

"You're making that up!" Roxie said. "You're probably high as a kite. I bet everyone around here is." She paused. "Is this some sort of cult? You don't _seem_ like a primitive civilization, like the sorts in the jungle who worship airplanes or whatever."

"No," Frankie shook his head, helping Roxie over a log that had washed up on shore. "We're aware of what goes on outside. We have radios, and the chief has a television."

"How did you get radios?" Roxie asked.

"Interesting thing about this island," Frankie said. "The waters around it are notoriously treachorous. Boats and planes get lost and are never seen again. The survivors of the boat and plane wrecks end up here with whatever equipment and supplies they can salvage."

"Why doesn't anyone ever wear clothes?" Roxie asked.

Frankie shrugged. "Because it's warm enough not to," he said simply.

"I suppose that's as good a reason as any," Roxie said, clutching the bed sheet tighter around her body.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked her. "Were you looking for someone?"

"Yes, I am," Roxie said. "I'm looking for someone who can undo the marriage that your stupid leader performed between my boyfriend and me. I'm not ready to be _married!_ And what kind of a person marries two people when one of them is cleary incapacitated? Well, actually, I don't _remember_ if I was incapacitated or not, but I must have been. That drink I got on the plane really did a number on me."

"Yeah, it would if you aren't used to it," Frankie nodded. "Look, I can take you to see the chief, but I don't think you're going to like what he has to say."

"Why not?" Roxie asked. "What's he going to say?"

Frankie had trouble meeting her eyes. "He's going to say that he can't do anything for you. That since your marriage was ordered by the Great One, only the Great One can get you out of it."

"Well, that's just stupid!" Roxie cried. She was so angry, she let the sheet drop and Frankie's eyes widened until they were as big as saucers with only a thin band of green iris visible. "What are _you_ looking at?" Roxie asked, glaring at him.

"Nothing," he said, averting his eyes quickly.

"Now," Roxie said, pulling Frankie after her. "I don't _care_ if the leader says he can't undo my marriage to Vince because it was ordered by my father. If he can't do something about it, I will, believe you me."

"Oh, I_ do_," Frankie said.

"So are you going to take me to see this leader of yours?" Roxie asked.

"Of course," Frankie nodded. He led her to a house that was much smaller than she thought it would be.

"If this is your chief's house," Roxie asked, "Then whose is the _big_ house? The one with the big palm trees in the back?"

"That would be for your parents when they come to visit," Frankie said.

"Oh, well does that mean _I_ can stay there?" Roxie asked. "I mean, I _am_ their daughter. Why didn't Vince and I just go _there_ after I was unceremoniously and unjustly forced into marriage?"

"Oh, it wasn't unceremonious," Frankie said. "I mean, we didn't do as much as we did when your parents got married, but we didn't do _nothing."_

"So do I get to move into my parents' house or not?" Roxie asked.

"You'll have to take it up with the chief," Frankie said. "It's not up to me."

"Where is 'the chief?" Roxie asked. "Are we actually gonna _see _him, or are we just going to stand here talking?"

"This way," Frankie said, gesturing down a stretch of sand with a dark speck at the end, which Roxie assumed was 'the chief's' house. She couldn't wait to get there and give this guy a piece of her mind.

* * *

><p>Selina came running to the front door to answer it and stop the loud, rapid, relentless knocking that had been going on for the last several minutes.<p>

"What?" She asked when she saw Klaus on the other side of the door. "What's going on, Nicky?"

Klaus strode into the house and gave her a look. "Remember how I told you that I sent Roxie and Vince to the island to get them out of Myna's way?"

"Yeah? What about it?" Selina asked. "Roxie's not causing trouble, is she? Do we have to start fearing for the islanders?"

"Vince just called," he said. "Apparently, Roxie wasn't too happy when she found out what we did."

"Well, I should hope she wasn't!" Selina said. "Did you or Vince _tell_ her what you were planning on doing before you did it, or did you leave it to be one of your fun little 'surprises' like you did when you and I went there?"

Klaus growled. "I thought that if we told her, she'd resist," he said through his teeth. "So I told Vince to make up a plausible lie to mislead her. That way she'd go for sure."

"Why can't you ever try being honest?" Selina asked. "Why does it always have to be lies and tricks with you?"

"Because if I _told _her the truth, I knew she'd balk and object and we didn't have a lot of time to get her out of the way," Klaus said. "And what's so bad about the island anyway? Blue sky, blue water, warm weather, white sand...I don't see why anyone should have an objection to it."

"Well there has to be something else then," Selina said. "Did you tell Vince anything else besides 'I have this island that I'm head of, take her there to get her out of harm's way'? Something that she might object to? 'Cause I agree that just going to the island alone, even under false pretenses, shouldn't be enough to set her off too much, although I never really know with Miss Roxie."

"Well," Klaus was having trouble looking Selina in the eyes now. "I also might have told the chief to marry them once they get there."

"_What_?" Selina asked. "You told the chief to _marry_ the two of them? She's only seventeen for crying out loud! Why does she have to get married now? What about letting her see the world first?"

"She can still do that," Klaus said quickly. "But I just think it might be good for her to have a calming, steady influence in her life. Especially considering what's going on between you and me right now."

"We should talk to her about it instead," Selina said. "That would be better for her, to help her understand what's going on. I'm going to go and get dressed and then we're going to go to the yacht and get the the island and sort this whole mess out!"

"What's the point of changing?" Klaus asked, his eyes roaming over her pink silk bathrobe. He could tell from the way that it clung to her body that she wasn't wearing anything underneath it. "You know the dress code of the island."

Selina shook her head. "I'd rather not encourage you," she said. "Now is not the time for you to have _ideas_ in your head. We have to focus!"

"Focus on what?" Elijah asked. "What's going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," Selina said. "Roxie's throwing a fit and we have to go sort it out."

"And where exactly is it that you're going?" Elijah asked.

"Just to this island I rule over," Klaus said. "It has a _very_ informal dress code."

"I would like to come too," Elijah said after a moment. "Give me a few minutes to pack some things and we'll go."

"I don't know if you really _want _to go," Selina said, following him to their bedroom. "I don't think it would be your sort of place."

"I don't care," Elijah said. "I don't trust Niklaus to be alone with you anywhere that has 'a very informal dress code'."

"Oh, please," Selina said. "That won't have any effect on me. It didn't the first time we went there, either."

He put his hand under her chin and tilted her head so that he was looking into her eyes. "Does that mean you don't want me to come?" He asked.

"Of course I want you to come if you'd like," she said. "I just didn't think you'd _want_ to. In fact, once we get there, you'll probably want to get in the boat and sail right back. Although I wouldn't mind _at all_ being with you in a warm place that has blue skies, blue water, white sand..." She paused. "Be sure you bring a bathing suit," she said. "Meet us in the car in five minutes."

She grabbed Lucy, went out to the car and sat in the backseat, and then Klaus began backing out. "Wait a minute!" Selina said. "Just _what_ do you think you're doing? We have to wait for Elijah. He's coming too."

Klaus smirked. "Is he really?"

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "I have to have _something_ to occupy my time while you deal with Roxie."

He turned. "You mean you aren't going to _help_ me? Vince said it's the whole marriage thing that's causing trouble, and that's _your _**raison d'etre**_."_

"Well, maybe once you tell her why you wanted her to be married and that you're sorry, she'll calm down and back off. And if you _really_ run into trouble and can't make any headway, let me know and I'll help you, but you have to make a genuine effort first," Selina told him. "And stop off at Stefan and Anna's before you go to the airport so I can drop off Lucy."

He rolled his eyes. "I doubt you'll help me," he said. "You'll probably be 'too busy'."

Selina grinned. "Maybe, we'll see."

Just then, Elijah knocked on Klaus' car door and Selina let him in. "Glad you got here," she said as he slid in next to her and she leaned against him. "_Somebody_ wanted to drive off without you."

"That would have been _such_ a tragedy," Klaus said. "By the way, you two need to be careful if you're thinking of being with each other at all while we're there."

"Of course we are!" Selina said. "Why?"

"Because according to island laws, you and I are married and I'm a god, so they might not take too kindly to the knowledge that you're cheating on me," he said.

Elijah was looking hesitant now. "Selina, maybe we shouldn't do anything," he said. "I wouldn't want you to get in trouble."

Selina was quiet as the car backed out of the driveway and then she burst out laughing. "Oh, please," she said. "I doubt they'll care that I'm with somebody else. On the day we got married, I slept with the whole island and they praised me for it!" She placed a hand on Elijah's arm. "Nothing bad will happen, trust me. Everything will be completely under control."

He sighed and took Lucy on his lap. "All right," he said. "If you say so."

* * *

><p>"Oh, you're here. That's great!" Vince said. He had dressed and was running to meet them. "You need to get to your house right away. Things have gotten worse."<p>

"Define 'worse,' Selina told him. "Is anyone dead?"

"Not at the moment," Vince shook his head. "But I think that could change at any time, so we have to hurry."

"How did all this happen?" Selina asked.

Vince took a deep breath. "Well, first Roxie was upset about the whole marriage thing, then she changed her mind a bit after the chief told her that it could be undone if one of you said it was okay, and she wanted to stay in your house, but the chief wouldn't let her because she's not you, and _that's_ when she threw the fit."

They arrived at the house and Vince opened the door. "Would one of the two of you go in first?" He asked Klaus and Selina. "This is one bullet I don't want to take again until I absolutely have to."

"Well, you heard him!" Klaus said to Selina. "Go in first and take the bullet!"

"No," Selina shook her head. "We said you were gonna deal with this, remember? So _you_ go in first."

They heard a crash and Vince said, "Somebody just go! I don't care _who_ it is!"

Selina rolled her eyes and walked into the house, followed by Elijah and then Klaus and Vince.

"She shouldn't be too hard to find," Vince said. "Just follow the crashing."

They found Roxie in the dining room, throwing all the china on the floor. The chief was tied to a chair and watching her with wide eyes. A few other people were sitting around the kitchen table as well. "No!" He cried. "Don't! I'll do anything you say!"

Roxie picked up a plate, cracked it, and ran one of the sharp edges down his cheek and licked the stream of blood from the cut with her tongue, wincing. "Too salty," she groaned. "Do you _have_ to sweat so much? I mean _really_."

"Roxanne, what do you think you're doing?" Selina asked. "What is going on here?"

Roxie gestured expansively around the dining room. "All these men married me to Vince and now they won't let me out of it," she said. "I thought I might give them some incentive by destroying all these silly plates they seem to hold so dear. And I've been having a contest to see which one of them is the yummiest." She walked toward a man whose dark brown hair was wet with perspiration. He was nearly still and the dried blood caked on his neck showed that she'd been drinking from him for quite some time. She grabbed him by his hair and bit him again, but then Vince pulled her away.

"Stop!" He cried. "Stop this right now!"

"Why?" She asked. "I'm having fun! Don't think that just because we're supposedly married you're going to stop me from having fun!"

"How can you call this fun?" Vince asked. "Hurting people like this?"

"What'll you do if I don't stop?" Roxie asked, getting right up next to him. "Will you leave me for somebody nicer? You wouldn't be the first person in this room to try and pull crap like that."

Selina let out her breath. "And there is the elephant in the room." She gently pushed Vince aside and ordered Roxie to sit down. "I thought you'd be upset about that," she told Roxie quietly. "That's why I came to explain what happened."

"What do you think I am, dumb or something?" Roxie asked. "I _know_ what happened. I saw it. There's no need for you to explain anything." She looked up at Klaus. "How are you feeling, Daddy? Are you okay?"

"Yes," Klaus nodded. "I'm fine, I suppose. For now."

"It's all right for you to be mad," Roxie said earnestly. "You don't have to hold everything in just for my benefit."

"Thank you," Klaus told her. "But now we're dealing with your problems, not mine. The reason why I sent you over here and arranged for you and Vince to be married wasn't because I wanted to hurt you or inconvenience you. There were problems back home, if you recall. My hybrids were dying. And I didn't want you to be another casualty. Can you understand that?"

Roxie sighed. "I suppose. But I still don't like it. Now that you're here, can't you just make it go away? The marriage, I mean?"

"Roxanne, there are far worse people you could be married to," Selina told her. "Your father and I both have had experiences with arranged marriages and nobody we got saddled with was as nice as Vince."

Roxie nodded and sniffled. "I suppose. And that's the problem."

"What problem?" Vince asked, more willing to come near her now that she seemed to have calmed down. "There isn't a problem."

"Yes, there is!" She nodded. "I don't like it here! I wanna go home!"

"Or you could come swimming with me," Vince said to her. "Wouldn't you rather do that instead? It's so nice and warm outside, it'll cheer you right up."

"I know it's warm!" She snapped. "I've _been_ outside. How do you think I got _here_?"

Selina looked back and forth between the two of them and stood up. "I think we'll leave the two of you to work things out," she said. She looked at the chief. "I think it would be best if Roxie stayed here. It's all right with us."

The chief nodded and they all left, leaving Vince and Roxie alone. Then, she buried her face in his shoulder and started crying.

"Hey," he said, putting a hand under her chin and looking into her tear-stained eyes. "What's the matter?"

She sobered and shook her head. "Nothing," she said. "Nothing is the matter. Now let's go have that swim, okay? Or we could just go to bed instead..." She reached a hand under his shirt and started stroking his stomach.

He shut his eyes. She'd been about to say something really useful, but as usual, she'd changed the subject instead. He wanted her to elaborate on the reason she'd been crying, but after looking at the men around the table, he decided not to push the issue. She'd explain eventually. She always did. He put his arms around her, kissed her forehead and let her lead him to bed.

* * *

><p>She brought him into the first bedroom she found and shut the door, pushing him gently against the wall and peeling off his shirt, running her hands slowly down his stomach. Kissing her, he picked her up and carried her to the bed, putting her down on it so that she was looking up at him, then took off her shirt and her bra and threw them on the floor. He kissed down her neck and unzipped her. She unzipped him and then he straddled her.<p>

"It's going to be okay," he leaned down and whispered in her ear.

She whimpered. "No, it's not." With a grunt, she rolled over so she was on top and gave him a smoldering look. "There," she said. "That's better."

He sighed and nodded. "Okay," he said. "If that's how you want it."

"I _do_." She nodded insistently and kissed him, laughing as he pushed into her. They went on for quite some time, but after Roxie tired out and sprawled beside him, Vince lay in bed, thinking about how he didn't feel the same. That maybe he felt even worse.

"You do what you need to," he said to her, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "And when you finally feel you can talk to me, I'll be ready to listen."

* * *

><p>"Sir?" Klaus looked up. "Yes?" He asked. The chief was standing just inside the doorway to his bedroom where Klaus had taken up residence. He looked nervous.<p>

"That man that the Beautiful One is with, I noticed that you weren't eyeing him too kindly. Who is he?"

"He is my brother," Klaus said. "Selina's taken up with him."

"And you aren't happy about this," the leader finished. "We'd be more than happy to do something about it for you, you know that, right?"

Klaus looked at him in surprise. "I doubt you'd be able to be very effective against my brother, but it was a nice offer."

"If that's what you want," the chief said. "Then I'll leave you alone. Goodbye."

"Wait..." Klaus said. "Maybe there _is_ something you can do..."

* * *

><p>"This is quite a place," Elijah said.<p>

Selina was looking out the window. She nodded and turned. "Beautiful, isn't it? Would you like to go for a swim?"

"Maybe later," he said. "Tonight, when the moon is out."

Selina grinned and put her arms around him. "How romantic," she said, kissing him. "Is this also because if it's dark, no one will be able to see you in a bathing suit?"

"Maybe," Elijah said. "Maybe not."

The rest of the day was torture, but as the moon hung bright over the night sky, Selina and Elijah snuck out of thier house and down to the ocean, wading in until the water was waist deep on him. They heard a twig snap and they both went under the black water for a moment, hoping no one saw them, and then reemerged a few minutes later.

"You look good wet," Selina remarked.

He was thinking the same thing as he looked her over, but couldn't actually get the words out. "I hope no one comes out here," she said. "I told everyone I would be busy with super secret stuff tonight so they should stay in their houses and not disturb me."

"Clever," he said, then watched in surprise as she peeled off her wet suit and waded to shore to throw it on the sand.

"What are you _doing_?" He asked as he watched her float around on her back.

"I just like the feeling of the cool water against my skin," she said. "You can go commando too, if you want. I don't mind."

"I think I'll stay like this, thank you," he said. "At least until we get inside."

She pulled him to her and put her lips against his ear. "Why wait until we get inside?" She asked, slipping her fingers just underneath his trunks. "If we just did it here, there wouldn't be any waiting."

She kissed him deeply. He held off for a little while, then picked her up and carried her to the shoreline, laying her out on the sand, marveling at the way the moonlight played on her dark hair. Then, she pulled him down on top of her and began kissing his neck, then she screeched as he entered her, anchoring herself by knotting her fingers in his hair. They rolled around on the sand, kissing each other feverishly until they finally fell asleep on the beach with the waves brushing their legs.

The next morning, however, they woke up to find themselves in the middle of the ocean, on a raft, with no land and no person in sight.

"Oh, my god," Selina said, clutching Elijah. "What are we going to do now?"


	2. Lonely Heart

Elijah looked down at the waves and then back into Selina's worried eyes. "I don't know," he said. "Give me time to think."

Selina whimpered a little and put her head on his shoulder. "We're gonna die. That's it. We're going to die!"

"That's a bit overdramatic, don't you think?" He asked her. He ran his fingers through her hair. "It's times like this that I'm reminded that you're a baby. At least compared to _me_."

Selina gave A brief sniffle and then looked up at him. "I am _not_ a baby!" She said indignantly. "I'm just freaked out. So freaked out that I don't even care you're not wearing a shirt right now. Hell, we should be grateful they at least put us back in our bathing suits before they shipped us off to this watery hell."

Elijah put his hands on her cheeks. "Stop this," he said. "Complaining is going to get us nowhere. We have to do something constructive!"

"What do you suggest, you who are so much wiser than I supposedly am, even though I can be very ingenuitive if I want to be?" Selina asked him.

"'Ingenuitive' isn't a word," Elijah told her. "The word is 'ingenious'."

"Who the hell cares what it is?" Selina asked. "Do you _really_ think that now is a good time to be lecturing me about vocabulary?"

"Well, there's not much else to do!" He snapped. "No one knows we're here, and even if they _did_ know we were here, there'd be no way to rescue us!"

They floated around for a little while and then Selina's eyes widened. "I got it!" She said. "The area near the island has a lot of ships come by it. Once we see one, we'll flag them down. We'll say we hit a wave and it threw us off course. They'll have to rescue us."

"What if it takes us a long time to see a ship?" Elijah asked.

"Well, that's just a chance we'll have to take," Selina said.

Elijah had serious doubts about her plan, but was glad she seemed to have cheered up.

They watched the waves until nightfall, when they fell asleep under the black sky.

* * *

><p>They were awakened by the sound of a horn, just as the sun was rising. "What?" Selina asked, roused abruptly from sleep and sitting up.<p>

"That was from a ship that's coming this way," he said. "Apparently, you were right about that."

"You seem surprised," she said, looking a little hurt. "Do you honestly think I would fib about something like that? What kind of sense would that make?"

"I'm not implying that you were fibbing," Elijah said. "Just that you could be mistaken. There's always a chance of that."

"Well, yes, but you don't have to patronize me," Selina said. "I'm not stupid." She winced. "Just hungry. I hope they let us on the boat."

"You're acting like you're going to give them a choice," Elijah said. "Are you?"

"Well, no." Selina said after a moment. "I just-"

"There you go then," Elijah said as the boat approached. "Get us on there. We don't want to be here forever."

Selina rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said. "Fine. Just follow my lead." She lay down as if she wer dead and when the boat pulled along side them, somebody standing and looking over the edge called out, "Is everything okay?"

"No," Elijah called back. "We were out sailing and we caught a wave that threw us off course. My wife fell in the water and is weak. If we could just come aboard for a little while, she could get the help she needs."

The man disappeared and came back with a member of the crew a short while later. "Hang on," the man called. "We'll pull you up."

While the two men looked for rope or something to pull Selina and Elijah into the boat with, Elijah grabbed hold of Selina and brought her into the boat.

"That was quick," the crew member said when he returned holding rope. "How did you get up here?"

Elijah shrugged. "I'm a good climber," he said. "You can take the rope back."

"Yeah, sure," the crew member said, looking at Elijah oddly. Once he was gone, Selina opened her eyes. "Now we have to go look for something to eat," she said. "I'm hungry."

"No," Elijah said, getting her arm in a firm grip. "We're not here to eat people."

"I haven't eaten in forever," Selina said, pulling Elijah along. "I'm not going to wait. I know just where to go." Selina walked around for awhile and then found a room, apart from others in the corridor and opened it. "Here we are," she said. "The honeymoon stateroom." She scoffed as she saw the champagne, chocolates, roses and heart-shaped hot tub. "Just sickening, isn't it?" She asked. Just then, a woman in lingerie came out and when she saw them, she screamed.

"What are _you_ doing in here?" She asked. "No one is supposed to be in here but my new husband and me. And you don't look like stewards, either of you."

"Maybe not," Selina said, a smile curving her lips. "But nonetheless, I'm here to help you. Where's your husband?"

"He went out for a moment," The woman said. "To get more ice for the champagne. We were out, see?"

"Oh, yes," Selina said, picking up the knife from a tray of leftover wedding cake and handing it to him. "When he comes back, I want you to stab him with this knife, okay? Stab him until he dies."

"Okay," the woman nodded and didn't even blink.

"Now sit down," Selina told her. "And be sure to hide the knife where he won't see it. It won't do any good if he runs away."

"Okay," the woman said flatly and sat down on the bed, hiding the knife in the folds of her robe.

Selina looked up and found that Elijah was looking at her oddly. "What are you doing?" He asked her.

"Helping," she said. "She'll thank me in the long run."

"How do you figure that?" He asked her. He sounded only mildly interested.

"Well. think about the divorce rate today," Selina said. "Half the people who get married end up getting divorced. This way, not only am I saving them the pain and misery of having to go through divorce proceedings, I also get something to eat and _we_ get a nice room to stay in." She went to the closet and opened the door, taking a look at the woman's wardrobe. "She's not too bad a dresser," she remarked. "I think I might actually wear one of her dresses to dinner." She threw a suit at him. "You dress too."

Just then, they heard a knock on the door. "In the closet!" Selina said to Elijah. "Let's go in there so we can watch this."

"What are you _doing_?" Elijah whispered angrily once they were in the closet. "Have you completely lost your mind?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "I know what I'm doing, so shut up, or you'll wreck everything!"

He looked as if he wanted to reply, but stayed quiet and they watched as the husband entered the room with a bucket of ice, then his wife stood up and stabbed him repeatedly, until he lay in a large puddle of his own blood. His wife just stood over him, staring at his body blankly. Then, she dropped the knife. "I'm done," she said quietly.

Selina came out of the closet. Elijah stayed behind, wondering what was going on with her.

"Good for you," Selina said to the woman. "Come here. I want to tell you a secret." The woman came toward her and Selina grabbed her and bit down on her neck, sucking greedily. When she was finished with her, Selina let the woman drop to the floor, and then she went to the sink to wipe the blood off her face and teeth. "We have to get rid of the bodies now," she told Elijah afterward. "We can't just leave them here."

"Yes, we can," Elijah said. "Now that you've _eaten_, we can leave."

"And go where?" Selina asked. "We're in the middle of the _ocean_. If you absolutely think we should leave, we can get off at the next port and find some way home from there. But until then, let's get someone to get these bodies out and have a good time, shall we?"

Elijah's lip twitched. He looked at her as if he were seeing something incredibly distasteful. Finally, he sighed. "All right. I'll be at the bar. You do what you will, but _be careful._"

"Fine," Selina said, waving dismissively. "Whatever."

* * *

><p>The knock on her door brought Roxie's head up. "Where's your mother?" Klaus asked.<p>

Roxie shrugged. "I don't know. Why?"

"Because I can't find her anywhere," Klaus said. "I mean, I know she and Elijah were on the beach last night and now they're not. I knew Elijah wouldn't be. I had him sent away. But I told them to be sure not to send your mother. I don't want her out in the middle of the ocean. She can't swim very well."

"So?" Roxie said. "She wants to leave you. Why not just let her drown? It's not like it'll be a big loss or anything."

"What?" Klaus asked. "Roxanne, what are you saying?"

"All right, fine," Roxie said, standing up. "I do know where Mom is. When the men went to put Uncle Elijah on the raft, after they left, I put Mom on too. I thought you'd be glad of it."

"Well, I'm not," Klaus told her. "I'm very disappointed in you. You don't _do _things like that to people who never did anything bad to you."

"But she_ did_ do something bad to me," Roxie insisted. "She ruined my life! I'm going to be miserable all the time because of her!"

Klaus sat down next to her. "What do you mean?" He asked. "Where's all this coming from?"

"Well, you and I are a lot alike, right?" Roxie sniffled. "So if somebody nice like Mom can't stick it out with you, who's to say that Vince won't take off the rose-colored glasses, see all the crap that's wrong with me and leave me too? If Mom were any kind of decent, she'd give you another chance!"

"This is really bothering you, isn't it?" Klaus asked, holding Roxie's chin up and wiping the tears from her eyes.

Roxie nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Well, then I'll just have to have a word with her when we find her. I'll see what I can do, all right?"

Roxie hugged him. "Thank you, Daddy."

* * *

><p>Elijah was lying down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling when he was startled by a loud knock at the door and an even louder, grating squawk. Frowning, he went to open the door and found Selina in the hallway with bird on her shoulder and a fistful of money.<p>

"I can't get in if you're standing right in front of the door," Selina said. The bird gave a loud squawk and Elijah backed away a little, giving Selina room to step inside.

"The bird," Elijah said. "Where did you get the bird?"

"I won it," Selina said. "A guy didn't have enough money to cover his bet, so he put in the bird and I won. Isn't he cute? I named him after Nicky."

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "Cute. Where are you planning on putting him?"

"I don't know yet," Selina said. "I'll have to look for a place." Just then, the bird flew off her shoulder and landed on Elijah's.

"Get him off!" Elijah said to her. "Shoo, bird! Shoo!"

Selina giggled. "Oh, don't do that!" She said. "He likes you. Why not just let him be?"

"Because he is a filthy, disgusting animal," Elijah said. "And I don't want anything relating to filthy, disgusting animals on my clothes."

Just then, there was a knock on the door and the bird's talons squeezed Elijah's shoulder, causing him to groan. "Ow, ow, ow! Make it stop, make it stop!"

"Go to the table," Selina said absentmindedly to the bird as she made her way to the door and opened it. The bird flew onto the table and Elijah rubbed his shoulder and winced, gowling at the bird who was on the table and looking as innocent as a bird could look. Selina opened the door and saw an angry man standing on the other side.

"You cheated!" He said to Selina. "Give me back my money!"

"I did not! You lost fair and square, so tough! Maybe if you weren't so drunk, you'd have played better cards!" Selina shot back.

"Okay, that's it!" Blinking bloodshot eyes, he swung at Selina but missed. She sucker punched him in the gut, sending him sprawling to the floor. As he struggled to get up, she kicked him in the butt and shut the door behind him, pouring herself some wine and sitting down at the table near the window to drink it. Elijah stared at her unbelievingly, then opened the door again, watching the man ambling down the opposite hallway.

"Wait!" Elijah called. "Don't you want your bird back? You can have it! We'll gladly give that up!" He shut the door, looking dejected. Selina put her wine down and smirked at him. "That wasn't the guy who had the bird," she said. "It was a different guy." She stroked the bird gently. "I don't know why you're being so mean to him," she said. "He never did anything to you."

"My shoulder tells a different story," Elijah said. "Why did he squeeze my shoulder like that?"

"His previous owner thought he had some sort of trauma in his life involving doors. Both knocking and doorbell-ringing make him tense. We'll just put him far away from a door and he won't be agitated anymore. It's simple."

Elijah growled again. "I _really_ don't like the bird."

Selina let go of the wine glass and then came to stand behind him. "Come and sit," she said. "You're so tense. I can make it better." When he sat, she placed her hands on his shoulders and gently massaged. "See?" She said. "I'm being gentle. And about the blood thing, there's a courier on board who's supposed to deliver a shipment of bags to this blood bank in the next port over. We could sneak in and get some. I know where it is."

He looked up at her and she kissed him quickly, then grinned. "While we're on the subject of blood supplies," he said, "when you drank from that woman, why'd you go through the whole show first, telling her to kill her husband and everything? That seems a bit cruel."

"I _told_ you," Selina said. "They were probably gonna get divorced anyway. I was just saving them the trouble by separating them now."

"Did you learn that method from someone?" He asked. "I feel like I've seen it before."

Selina frowned. "What do you mean? Are you telling me that you've seen other scenarios where women have hacked their husbands to death and then been found with their throats torn out?"

"Yes," he nodded. "There was a vampire some years back quite notorious for that method of killing. The only difference between your murders and hers is that she used to pull the victims' hearts out too, and write 'Til Death Do Us Part' on the walls in their blood."

Selina shuddered. "Sounds horrible! What kind of a cold, cruel person would do something like that? I bet she was somebody who was really hurt in love. You don't take that much anger out on happy, married couple unless you yourself aren't happy. Trust me, I know. What was the vampire's name? I assume she had a name."

Elijah nodded. "They called her 'Lonely Heart.' She would date men and when they cheated on her, she would kill them _and_ the other woman, so I suppose it would be inaccurate to say she only went after married couples. But it was a married couple that got my father on to her. He followed her all around Europe for years, but he never managed to catch her. She's been quiet, but he's still waiting for the day she'll begin again. He says it's only a matter of time."

* * *

><p>"...It's only a matter of time," Mikael looked at the papers just like he had every day for the last eighty or more years.<p>

"Only a matter of time until what, Father?" Aleksandr asked. Mikael looked up at his son. "Until I find her again," he said. "She's been quiet, but no one who was that angry can just suddenly heal. She knew I was onto her and she's been lying low ever since, hoping that I'd forget all that she did."

"Who?" Aleksandr asked. "Father, what are you talking about?"

"I don't know her name," Mikael said. "But everyone called her Lonely Heart. She was a bitter, angry woman and a bitter, angry vampire. Her heedless murders almost exposed our species who knows _how_ many times. At least five or six, I believe. Maybe more."

"Would you like me to help you look for her?" Aleksandr asked. "I can look in books, and walk around and talk to people, whatever you need."

"Thank you," Mikael told him. "I could definitely do with some help."

"Where would you like me to start?" Aleksandr asked.

Mikael turned on the television. A news story came up about murders that had recently occurred on a cruise ship.

"...The couple were found in the honeymoon stateroom. The man was hacked to death with knife and his wife was found nearby, her throat torn out. The woman's clothes were gone and so were any possible suspects, although police interviewed a man who claimed to have been playing cards with a woman who had stayed in that very room, although his state of intoxication cast doubt on the veracity of his claims."

"We're going to that boat," Mikael said to Aleksandr.

"You think she was there?" Aleksandr asked him.

"It's a strong possibility," Mikael nodded. "The couple wasn't murdered in _exactly_ the same way as Lonely Heart murdered her victims, but it's close enough I feel we should delve deeper into it."

Aleksandr nodded. "All right," he said. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>At the knock on the apartment door, Selina shut off the news and went to answer it.<p>

"What?" She asked when she saw Klaus on the other side. "What do you want?"

Klaus came in and turned the news on again. The story still blared. He looked appraisingly at the crime scene photos that were on TV and said, "I bet you feel proud of yourself," he said. "Very few vampires get this sort of publicity."

"I'm not proud of myself at all," Selina said. "I don't _want_ publicity. I'm not trying to achieve notoriety or anything. I was just hungry, that's all. It was an accident. I'm not going to let it happen again."

"I'm sure you won't _mean_ to," Klaus said. "But old habits die hard."

"No, they don't. They die completely," Selina said. "I'm not the woman I used to be and no one should know that better than you."

Just then, there was another knock on the door. Klaus opened it and Stefan came in. He was holding a bottle of champagne. He popped it open and poured her a glass. "Congratulations, Lonely Heart," he said. "Nice to have you back."

"You shouldn't be congratulating me!" Selina said, refusing the drink."I need to go and be with Elijah. At least he _yells_ at me when I do something wrong, instead of encouraging me like all of you."

"We just think you need to lighten up," Stefan said. "And it's about time too, really."

"This could be a real bonding moment for you and me," Klaus agreed. "It'll be so good for Roxie to see you and I together again."

"I repeat," Selina said, "This whole murder thing was an unfortunate accident, the result of way too much time spent out on the ocean with no blood supply." She frowned at Klaus. "Or did it not occur to you that that would happen when you set Elijah and me adrift from the island?"

"Roxie sent you," Klaus said. "I sent Elijah. I know that you can't swim very well and I would never put you in danger like that."

"And you aren't ashamed about that?" Selina asked him. "Sending Elijah away, I mean?"

"No," Klaus shook his head. "Of course not. Why should I be?"

"Just because!" Selina said. "You can't just send people off because you don't like them!"

"He can too!" Roxie said. "It's his island. He can do what he wants! Especially to boring people like you! Were you _ever _cool? At all?"

"Trust me," Selina grinned, coming right up close to her. "If you'd met me when your dad and first were togther, you'd have been scared of me. I'm not proud of it. I'm just stating a fact."

"Yeah, right," Roxie scoffed. "I'll believe _that_ when I see it."

Selina heaved an exaggerated sigh. "All right, Miss Roxie. Your wish is my command."


	3. Single White Female

_Roxie was dreaming. Or at least she was pretty sure she was. She was sitting in a chair with a spotlight over her in an otherwise dark room. "Hello?" She called. "Is anyone here? Where am I?"_

_"With me, sweetie." Roxie quickly turned around in her chair as a woman stepped out from the darkness, her eyes a wide blue like Roxie's own and blonde hair cut to just below her chin. She was wearing black stockings and a tight black dress. "I know you wanted to meet me," the woman said, sitting in another chair that had mysteriously appeared next to Roxie's. "You wanted to meet me and here I am."_

_Roxie snorted. "No, I'm sure I don't want to meet you. You look like my mom. She's so _lame."

"_How so?" The woman who looked like her mother asked, leaning forward. "Tell me how badly I've ruined myself over the years."_

_"Well, she's so _good_," Roxie complained. "She doesn't believe in killing people at all, even though it's in our nature to do so, and she broke up with my dad to be with my uncle who's totally lame and wrong for her, and-"_

_"Hold on," The woman said. "I've left your father? Why would I do that?"_

_Roxie scoffed. "I don't know! I don't see how anyone could hate my dad!"_

_"Exactly," Selina nodded. "It's impossible. 'Cause even if someone _did_ hate him he could just compel them to like him. Or he could kill them." She shrugged and blew a gum bubble. "Whatever."_

_Roxie looked at Selina in amazement. "It's like you're my mom...but better. I have a question: I know this guy and I really like him, but he wants to be married. I don't. I think I have several years before I'm ready for that."_

_"Am I telling you you should marry this guy?" Selina asked, eyes narrowed. "How old are you, sweetheart?"_

_"Seventeen," Roxie said immediately. "I'll be eighteen soon."_

_Selina gagged. "I better not be telling you to get married at your age. I mean, when I was growing up, that's all my mother did, and-"_

_"And we know how much you resent her," Roxie finished. "No, you haven't told me to marry him. That was all Dad's idea."_

_Selina growled. "Has he lost his mind? What's wrong with him?"_

_Roxie shrugged. "I don't know exactly. "Maybe he's doing it for security or something. Or he could possibly think I can't handle life by myself, which is absolutely ridiculous."_

_"You'll just have to prove otherwise to him and anyone else," Selina said. "Do you think you can do that?"_

_"Sure," Roxie nodded._

_"I remember the first time I realized I couldn't depend on men anymore," Selina told her. "It was right after I was turned. Doctor Stensrund tried to isolate me from my child, my friends, my family...and when he wouldn't let me leave his house, I killed him. Ripped his throat right out. Damn it felt good!" She grinned, showing her fangs._

_"Did you feel bad about it afterward?" Roxie asked._

_"Why should I have?" Selina said. "The man victimized me, okay? No one should have to live their lives as a victim. You have to take action against men who treat you like property, no exceptions. You deserve to be your own person. Think you can remember that?"_

_"Yeah," Roxie nodded. "I can."_

* * *

><p>She woke up feeling much more chipper than usual. When she went into the living room, Vince was just coming in with a bag over his shoulder.<p>

"You just getting home?" She asked him. "Where were you since you didn't come to bed last night?"

"Oh," Vince said, "I spent the night at Charlie and Tony's. I thought it would be best."

"What do you mean?" Roxie asked. "Do you want to move out?"

He nodded after a moment. "Yeah, I think I should," he said. "I can't go on like this anymore."

"Go on like what?" Roxie asked.

"Like this!" He gestured wildly around the apartment. "You and me in this...whatever the hell you'd call it. This _thing_ where we're everything but married. Why can't you just let us get married anyway? How would that be so different from how things are now?"

"Well, why are you so eager for us to be married?" Roxie asked. "'Cause you see me as some sort of chattel and you can't wait to brand your name on my ass so that you have proof that I belong to you and nobody else? Well, let me tell you something, Mister. I am a grown woman and I have goals and dreams and desires that are beyond being married. I'm not one of those stupid, vapid girls who spent all of school writing 'Mrs. insert-jock's-name-here' all over my notebook covers. I had _other_ things on my mind."

"I never said you were," Vince shot back. "I would _never_ want you to turn into the sort of person you describe. And I _want_ to be married to you because for some reason even _I'm_ beginning to lose sight of, I love you, even if you _are_ a shallow, self-absorbed bitch. And I believe that if you love someone, you should be selfless enough to give them whatever they want, and since you don't want to be married, I won't stay here and waste my time or yours." He put the bags on the steps. "Now I'm going to go to our room and finish emptying out my drawers, and when you've decided for sure you want to be with me, but not before then, you can come and find me at Charlie and Tony's."

"Wait!" She said, running after him. "This isn't fair! If the reason you want to be married is to be sure I won't cheat on you, you know I wouldn't do that! I've never slept with anyone else besides you! You know that, don't you?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I know that. And I've done the same for you."

Roxie put her hands on her hips. "Well, what do you expect me to do while you're gone then? Unless you'll let me come over at night for a little...pick me up."

He looked up and shook his head. "I don't think so," he said. "I don't want to do any of this halfway anymore. Why can't you get that? But if you're concerned, might I suggest you pick up an electric toothbrush and put it in a place you won't lose it? That should hold you for awhile."

"Ugh!" Roxie winced. "That's just gross."

He shrugged. "Fine. I was just trying to help. But maybe a little celibacy will be good for you," he said. "Goodbye, Roxie." When she didn't respond, he shook his head and shut the door behind him.

Roxie stood staring at the door for several minutes and then walked over to it, opening it again, hoping that Vince was just messing with her and that he'd still be on the other side. "Vince?" She called. But the hallway was empty. He was gone.

* * *

><p>"Hey," Selina said as Elijah looked up when they walked through the door. "Did you miss us last night?" She held Lucy by the hand and the little girl was walking beside her.<p>

Elijah picked Lucy up. "Of course I did," he said. "But it was wise of the two of you to stay at your apartment for the evening."

"Maybe it wasn't," Selina said. "Stefan and Nicky saw the news and came over to 'congratulate' me."

"Oh?" Elijah asked. "And how did you respond?"

"I told them that it wasn't something I was proud of," Selina said. "That it was just an unfortunate phase that I went through and that it's over now."

Elijah nodded. "Good for you. Things were pretty quiet last night around here."

"Good," Selina smiled. "The bird didn't cause any trouble, did he?"

Elijah smirked. "It was like he wasn't even here."

Selina stared at him uncomprehending for a few seconds, then his words sunk in and she took off for her room. Lucy squirmed in Elijah's grip for a moment before he put her down and she ran after her mother.

"Oh, thank goodness," Selina said, taking a deep breath when she saw that Nicky the bird was still in his cage.

"Birdy still here," Lucy said. Selina looked down at her. "Yes, he's still here, but even so..." She strode back to the living room and paused right in front of Elijah, snatching his paper out of his hands. He looked up at her. "Yes?" He asked.

"What the hell did you do with my bird?" She asked. "Is that even the same one? I bet you lost him and that's a replacement bird!"

"I never touched it," he said.

"Whatever!" Selina shot back. "I know you hate him. What better opportunity to get rid of him then at a time when I'm not here to stop you?"

Elijah just shook his head. "If were as concerned with his safety last night as you are now, then why did you leave him here with me? Why didn't you take him with you for the night?"

Selina stood silent for a moment, then, when she couldn't stand looking at his smirking face any more, she leaned forward and spit her gum in his hair.

He ran his fingers through his hair and when he felt the gum, his eyes widened. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"Oh, no reason, really," she said. "I just felt like it." She looked at the clock. "I just realized that Lucy and I have to be at Damon's for my weekly visit with Sam in a few moments. We should probably get going now."

"Now wait just a minute!" Elijah called after her. "You come back here right now and get this gum out of my hair!"

"Bite me," Selina said over her shoulder as she carried a waving Lucy out the door. "Bye-bye Unc' 'Lijah!" Lucy called.

* * *

><p>"Well, you sure look happy," Damon said when he opened the door to Selina's knock. "What's going on?"<p>

Selina smirked. "Oh, nothing. Exacting vengeance is always fun."

"And against whom were you exacting vengeance?" Damon asked.

"Elijah was antagonizing me about the new bird I got, so I spit gum in his hair." She sat down and gave him a grin. "It was funny."

"Ah," Damon sat down next to her. "So the honeymoon's over, I see."

Selina shook her head. "Not exactly. I don't see what's so hard about leaving my bird alone, but apparently, Elijah has a problem with him."

"When did you get a bird?" Damon asked.

"I was playing poker and one of the guys in the game didn't have enough money to cover his bet, so he put the bird in and I won," Selina said. "Where's Sam?"

Just then, Sam came running into Selina's open arms. "Mommy!" He said.

Selina hugged him. "Do you want to play with your trucks?" She asked him.

"No," Sam shook his head. "Monster."

Selina looked at Damon. "What's Monster?" She asked.

"Just a game we play," he said. "We have to get his blocks out of his room first."

"All right," Selina said, picking up Sam. "Let's do that then."

"Let's go, Cookie Monster," Damon said, picking up Lucy and carrying her to Sam's room. He and Selina grabbed the box of blocks and carried them out to the living room with Sam and Lucy following. They dumped the wooden blocks on the floor and then Selina looked at Sam. "What do we do now?"

Sam began making little stacks of blocks four high and he and Damon put them in a circle with an opening on one side of it. "Would you go in the middle?" Damon asked Selina.

"Okay," Selina said, sitting on her feet in the circle of blocks. "Am I in jail or something?"

"You've been captured by the monster and now you have to try and escape," Damon said. "If Sam catches you then you lose."

Selina grinned. "I have a feeling this isn't how you usually play, but okay. What's your role?" She asked Damon.

"I get to try and rescue you," he said. "I'm the good guy."

"Wanna play?" Selina asked Lucy. Lucy shook her head and went to the kitchen table and tried to climb up on a chair to reach the cookie jar on the kitchen table. Damon picked her up off the chair, gave her a few cookies and sat her down on the sofa where she could watch the game unfold before her very eyes.

Sam went to the corner of the living room opposite where Selina sat and then ran at her, roaring, his arms in the air. He began kicking the little piles of blocks over and when he threw himself into her arms, Selina hugged him hard.

"You're missing the point of the game," Damon said after a moment. "He's not supposed to catch you. You're supposed to run away when you see him coming."

Selina patted Sam on the head and kissed his hair. "Why would I want to do that when he's so cute?"

"Because that's how the game goes," Damon said through his teeth.

"Are you okay?" Selina asked him, putting Sam down and coming to put a hand on Damon's back. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing," Damon said moodily, not meeting her eyes.

"Is it really nothing?" Selina asked. "Or is it something?"

"Yeah, okay, it's something," Damon said. "What about _me_?"

"Do you need a hug?" Selina asked.

"Don't bother," Damon said. He went to sit next to Lucy on the sofa, then took the cookie she offered him and when she crawled into his lap, he hugged her hard.

"I'll still hug you if you need it," Selina said. "That's not a problem."

"It is for me," Damon said. "It's not enough. Every time we have these playdates, I-it's getting to be a bit much for me, so how about when it's your time with Sam, I just drop him off and then come pick him up at the end of the day?"

"Well, okay I guess," Selina said. "If that's what you want."

"That _is_ what I want," Damon snapped. "Why would I say it if I didn't mean it?"

"When you come, do you want me to send Lucy back with you?" Selina asked. "It'd be okay with me if you took her for a bit. I'm sure she wouldn't mind either."

"Well at least _somebody_ doesn't." Damon's voice was still bitter.

"If you're going to be angry, then I'll just leave and take Sam with me so he still gets his time. And you can keep Lucy for a little," Selina said. "She might cheer you up."

"You're acting like it's all my fault I'm angry," Damon said. "Do you even _realize_ how much of it has to do with you?"

"Of course I do," Selina said. "I'm not stupid and I'm sorry for making you miserable, but there's not much I can do about it now. It's unfortunate, but it's true. You're no good for me anymore, Damon. And I have to remember that. And don't make me feel guilty for thinking of myself," she said when Damon opened his mouth to protest. "I'm sorry that things didn't work out between us, but you still have Wendy, remember? Don't forget about her. Why don't you give her a call?"

"I don't need to," Damon said, tickling Lucy and making her giggle. "Cookie Monster and I are going to have lots of fun tonight, aren't we kid?"

Lucy snuggled against him and Selina said, "Well, whatever works for you." She took Sam out to her car and brought him back to Elijah's, where they played until it was time for her to put Sam to bed.

* * *

><p>She had just finished her shower and was reading in bed in her bathrobe when Elijah came in, giving her a sour look. She just giggled. "I love your hair," she said. "The gum really does a lot for you. Don't try and pull it out though. It'll just get stuck worse."<br>"Don't act like any of this is my fault," he told her. "You're the one who brought the damn bird into my house."  
>"I don't see what the problem is," Selina said. "Nicky's sweet."<br>Just then, the bird flew in and landed on Selina's shoulder. "You're an idiot," he squawked at Elijah.

"That's it!" Elijah growled. He pulled Nicky off Selina's shoulder and wrung his neck, dropping his crumpled body on the floor next to Selina's side of the bed. "There," he said. "All my problems are solved."  
>Selina looked at him in shock. "I can't believe you just did that!" She ran to the kitchen and grabbed the ketchup out of the fridge and squirted it all over his pants. "I guess you'll have to take them off," she said. "I know you will."<p>

"No, I won't," Elijah said. "I'm perfectly fine like this." He wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing how upset he was.  
>She heaved a sigh and let her bathrobe fall to her feet. "I'm going to bed," she said. "Are you going to join me?"<p>

He looked at her resentfully, growling and pushing her against the wall. She peeled his shirt off and unzipped him, and he threw her down on the bed. "I hate you," he whispered angrily. Then he pushed into her.

She gasped. "I just bet you hate me," she said breathlessly. "How much? How much?"

"So much," he said. "Sometimes I just want to..." He pulled out of her almost all the way and pushed in again. She screamed. "Do it again!" She said, her hips bucking upward. "Take out all your anger on me!"

He pulled her to him and kissed her. "Stop talking!" he ordered.

Suddenly, she pushed him off her and rolled him over so that she was on top. "If only I had some way to occupy my mouth," she said. "Then I wouldn't need to talk so much."

She went under the covers and slowly sucked on him. He shut his eyes and felt himself relax. Just before he was about to fall asleep, Selina resurfaced from under the covers. "Goodnight," she said, kissing him softly on the lips. Then she lay her head on his chest and shut her eyes. "You drive me crazy, you know that?" He whispered.

"Yeah," she said. "I do. But I'm not sorry."

"I know you aren't," he said. "And I know you never will be."

She grinned. "It's good we're clear on that."

* * *

><p>"How are you feeling?" Charlie asked Roxie when she met her at school the next day.<p>

Roxie sighed. "Fine. How's Vince? Please tell me he's as miserable as me. I'll feel better that way."

"Well, he wasn't _happy_ when he threw his stuff in the guest room last night," Charlie said. "I think you're looking at this the wrong way. This isn't a bad thing. You can make this work in your favor."

"Of course you'd say that. You have a husband," Roxie told her bitterly. "You don't have to come home to nothing every time you enter your apartment."

"Use this as a time to discover yourself," Charlie said. "Learn new hobbies. It'll be good for you." She watched Roxie yawn and said, "What's wrong with you? Why are you so tired?"

"I spent most of last night _discovering_ myself and let's just say there isn't much uncharted territory left on me," Roxie said. "But I suppose if Vince is as miserable as me, then it'll all be worth it."

Then they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. "Yes?" Charlie said, looking at the mousy girl with the glasses and curly hair. "May I help you?"

"I'm Agnes," the girl said quietly. "Remember me?"

"I do," Roxie said, looking at her with distaste. "What do you want?"

"My family is having a termite problem," Agnes said, looking shyly at Charlie, "and we need to find another place to live while the exterminators spray our apartment. Vince offered to let me stay with him and you and Tony, but I don't think my father would approve my living with boys."

"Well, it's just me at my apartment," Roxie said to her. "I'd be glad to host you while your family deals with their insect problem."

"Really?" Agnes asked. "I thought you hated me."

"Of course not!" Roxie said, pretending to look horrified. "I'm sorry if I gave you that impression. When can you move in?"

"Any time," Agnes said. "Thank you, Roxie. You're so sweet!"

She ran back to tell Vince what Roxie had told her. He looked at Roxie from across the room and stood up and strode over to her. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked. "Can't I be helpful? After all, any friend of yours is a friend of mine."

"Bullshit," Vince said. "What are you _really_ up to?"

"Nothing," Roxie said. "I'm alone thanks to you, and she needs a place to stay. It's a perfect arrangement. I'll treat her just like family."

"Would eight be fine for me to move in tonight?" Agnes asked her eagerly.

"Yes," Roxie grinned. "Eight would be perfect,"

Agnes grinned at her and gave her a hug that she didn't return. "Thank you for doing this for me. You have no idea what a lifesaver you are."

"No," Roxie shook her head. "I should be thanking _you._ See you tonight, sweetie."


	4. Gretel

"You can't move in with her," Vince said, chasing after Agnes when she left the lunch room. "You'll be sorry if you do."

Agnes turned. "Oh, I'm sure you're wrong," she said. "She seems genuinely pleased to have me. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Well, let's see," Vince said. "You know the story of Hansel and Gretel, right?"

Agnes nodded. "Of course I do. Who doesn't?"

Vince nodded and cleared his throat. "Okay. Well, remember what happened when the witch lured Hansel and Gretel into her gingerbread house? Well, it'll be a million times worse for you if you move in with Roxie."

Agnes burst out laughing. "Oh, I'm sure you're exaggerating. Could it be that you're acting like this because you want to move back in with her yourself and you regret leaving in the first place?"

Vince scoffed. "Oh, please. Definitely not. But please, for your own good, don't move in with her. She doesn't like you. She's just using you to get back at me."

"Well, all right," Agnes said to him. "I'll leave you with that train of thought. I have to get to Algebra." She scampered off, leaving Vince standing by himself.

"I am _very_ offended," Roxie said, coming up behind him. "How could you tell her that I was going eat her?"

"Well, aren't you?" Vince asked. "Why else would you invite her to move in with you?"

"Maybe because I'm lonely and I want company?" She smacked Vince in the back of the head. "Why can't you ever think I'm capable of good things? Why do you always assume the worst of me?"

"Because I haven't seen any reason to believe the contrary," Vince said. "_Is_ there anything good about you?"

Roxie nibbled on his ear. "What about how I look in a bikini...or out of one?"

Vince shuddered and pushed Roxie away. "You really _are_ evil, you know that?"

"Oh, but you like it. I have to go now. See you later, Vince," she said, giving him an air kiss before turning away and walking down the hallway.

Vince was left watching her retreat and breathing hard. "She's going to kill me one of these days," he said as Tony and Charlie came up beside him.

Tony clapped him on the back. "I know you have this plan in your head about how you think things should go with Roxie, but I don't think you're going about it the right way."

"Why?" Vince asked. "What should I do instead?"

"You should ask her to move back in with you," Tony said.

"No!" Vince shook his head. "I can't do that! It would be counterproductive! I have a point I'm trying to make with her and I can't do it if she's in the apartment with me!"

"Do you realize how _lucky_ you are?" Tony asked Vince. "I mean, myself excluded, do you realize how many men on this planet would drag themselves naked across broken glass to have a relationship with a woman like you do with Roxie? You know, purely sexual with no pressure to marry at all?"

"That may be, but it's almost not worth the manipulation and the lying and the drama..." Vince trailed off.

"But maybe you're the one person keeping her good," Charlie told him. "Or at least _better_. If she puts all her energy into a relationship with you, that gives her less time to think about doing other things. Like causing trouble. Who _knows_ what she's gonna do now that you've moved out? This thing with Agnes is probably just the beginning. _You_ are practically the only link she has to the small bit of humanity she has in her. Don't make her lose it because you feel like you need to prove a point!"

"I just want to be with her," Vince said. "We've been living together for years. What's wrong with being married then?"

"Because we're young," Tony told him. "Give her time. Give yourself time to have fun...have a life. You can do that and still be with her. Now, she's skipping French, and where does she usually hide out to avoid a scolding from Madam Laurent?" He looked questioningly at Charlie.

"She sneaks a cigarette in the girls' bathroom on the second floor, I believe," Charlie said. "Let's go so you can tell Roxie you don't want to be married yet."

Vince sighed. "Fine."

Charlie led them down to a little used bathroom on the second floor. They stood outside and just as Charlie put her hand on the door handle to open the door, they heard a loud _boom! _and the sound of rushing water.

"Oh, my god," Charlie whispered. She opened the door and the three of them coughed and gasped when smoke drifted into their eyes. They waded through ankle deep water until they reached a stall, each holding onto the door.

"Roxie?" Charlie called croakily. "Are you all right? What happened?"

"Nothing too bad," Roxie's _blase_ voice drifted over them. "I thought it would be fun to drop a cherry bomb down the toilet because no one really uses this bathroom anyway. Cigarette, anyone?"

"No, thanks!" Charlie called. "We came because Vince has something he wants to say to you."

"Oh?" Roxie hopped off the toilet and strode through smoke that seemed to part as she came near them. "What is it? Are you moving back in? 'Cause if you are, then I can tell Agnes the deal is off."

"Let's go in the hall," Vince suggested. "The air is cleaner out there." They went out into the hallway and Roxie looked at Vince expectantly. "So what did you want to say?"

He sighed. "Just that...I don't want us to get married, at least not right now. I can wait, I suppose."

"He realizes that we're all young and you have all the time in the world to be married," Tony added.

"And yet you're not moving back in?" Roxie looked at Vince and crossed her arms.

"You and I, I think we moved a little fast and I want to go about being with you the right way," Vince told her. "I actually want us to date."

"Oh!" Roxie's eyes widened. "You mean like that sexy game where people go to bars and pretend they're total strangers and pick each other up?" She grinned. "I like."

"No, not exactly like that. I mean really date. Like regular people do."

"But why?" Roxie asked. "What's the point?"

Charlie grabbed hold of Roxie's arm. "It's time for us to go. We don't want Mr. Withers to find you in here, do we?"

"Wait," Roxie said. "I want to hear Vince's answer to my question."

Vince sighed. "I can't give you one. Not that you'd accept."

"Well that's a stupid answer," Roxie said. "You don't really want to wait at all, do you?" Her eyes narrowed. "What are you trying to do?"

Vince put his hands on Roxie's shoulders. "Don't you want our relationship to be about more than just sex?" He asked her. "Don't you want to...I don't know, share hobbies and experiences and stuff like that?"

Roxie nodded. "Yeah. And? We can do all that without being married, can't we?"

"This isn't about being married anymore," Vince reminded her. "Marriage is completely off the table for now. We were talking about dating, remember?"

"Oh, yeah." Roxie nodded. "So what exactly would dating entail? Would we live together?"

Vince shook his head. "No."

"Would we have sex?"

Vince shook his head again. "I don't think we should."

Roxie rolled her eyes. "How is this supposed to benefit me?"

"At least we'll see each other a couple of times a week," Vince assured her. "It's not like I'm abandoning you completely."

Roxie nodded. "So I'll live in the apartment with Agnes and you stay at Tony and Charlie's and we'll see each other a couple of times a week for a _date_? Is that what's gonna happen?"

"Well, yeah," Vince said. "If it's all right with you of course. I wouldn't want to make you do something that you don't want to do."

"Well of course it's not all right, but if it's the only way I'll see you, I guess I have no choice but to agree," Roxie said. "Are you_ sure _this is the only way to deal with us?"

Vince nodded and pushed a strand of hair out of Roxie's eyes. "Yeah," he said. "The only way I can see. And then when we're twenty, we'll stop dating and reevaluate. How's that?"

Roxie sighed. "Sure, why not? It's only two years...I guess."

Vince nodded and patted Roxie on the shoulder. "Exactly. It'll be all right. You'll make it."

Roxie glared. "Whatever."

* * *

><p>Selina stood impatiently outside the door of Damon's house. She'd been knocking furiously for several minutes and he hadn't come to answer the door. Her arms were starting to ache. She shifted Sam again and he looked at her quizzically.<p>

"Let me in, Damon!" She called. "I brought Sam and I have to take Lucy back now. You better not have taken her somewhere else like you did with Sam when I came for _him_!"

When there was no response, she put Sam down on the porch and took off her coat, setting it down on a deck chair and backing away from the door. "Watch this, Sammy," she said to Sam. "This is how Mommy deals with things when Daddy is being a troublemaker." She ran toward the door and just as she reached it, Damon opened it. She wasn't able to stop her momentum and it was the coffe table that finally brought her to a halt.

"Need ice for your head?" Damon asked her after picking up Sam from the deck and coming back in to look Selina over. "You should have just waited. I would have answered the door eventually. Lucy and I were playing hide and go seek in the backyard. Can you blame us for not hearing you?"

Selina glared at him and put her hand on the giant goose egg that was beginning to form. "You make it sound obvious now, but I bet you were planning on making a run for it."

"Why would I leave with Lucy but not Sam?" Damon asked her.

Selina took her hand off her forehead and shrugged. "I don't know. Can I have some ice?"

Lucy came over to her and kissed her forehead. "Mommy got a owie."

"Yes, she does," Damon said. "But Cookie Monster, that is her own fault for being an impatient person. She wants to take you away."

Lucy's lip began to tremble. "Me go bye-bye? No!" She ran away from Selina and firmly attached herself to Damon's right leg. Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"It doesn't look like she wants to go," Damon said.

Selina collapsed on the floor. "I don't care anymore. Get me some ice, _please_. My head feels awful."

Damon brought her the ice and picked her up to place her on the sofa where she put the ice on her forehead and took a deep breath. "Fine," she said at last. "Could _you_ bring Lucy to my apartment?" She asked. "After she's calmed down, I mean."

"Sure," Damon said immediately. "Of course."

Selina looked at him suspiciously for a moment, then grabbed her phone out of her purse and called Stefan. "Hey," she said to him. "Could you come over to Damon's and make sure that he brings Lucy back to my apartment and doesn't run off with her? Thanks!" She hung up the phone and gave him a grin, getting unsteadily to her feet. "I'll be on my way now," she said. "Goodbye. See you all in a bit."

* * *

><p>"Who was that?" Klaus asked after Stefan hung up his phone.<p>

"Selina," Stefan said. "She wants me to go over to Damon's and make sure he brings Lucy back to her. She must have spent the night at his house or something." He paused as Klaus tensed. "What's wrong with you?" He asked.

"It's wrong," Klaus said. "All of this. Lucy is _my_ daughter, yet your brother gets to see more of her than I do! It's not fair."

"Well, what do you want _me_ to do?" Stefan asked.

"Tell your brother to drop Lucy off at _my_ house instead of Selina's apartment," Klaus said. "Then we can tell Selina that I want to be fatherly, and she can't get mad at me. It's a perfect plan."

"I don't know if we should do that," Stefan told him. "It seems like a step back to me, when you should really try to be taking steps forward. You don't actually _want_ her to bring up divorcing you again, do you?"

"No," Klaus said balefully.

"Well, the way that will stay hidden is if you keep doing things that will make her appreciate you instead of making her think of you as unreliable. And going behind her back and taking Lucy is something that will make you unreliable, just to let you know," Stefan said. "How about I just _ask_ if you can see Lucy?"

"Fine," Klaus rolled his eyes. "I guess that would work too."

* * *

><p>Just as Selina belted herself into her car, her cell phone rang again. "Hello?" She asked. "Stefan? What's going on?" She paused. "Really? He does? That'll be fine if either you or Anna is there too. Uh-huh. Thanks for calling me. Bye."<p>

She drove home, and decided to do some laundry. She got hers out of the hamper and saw that Elijah's white shirts were also in the hamper. She saw a pair of her new red panties on top of her laundry pile and an awful idea came into her mind. She grabbed Elijah's shirts and threw them, along with her red panties, into the washing machine, even though she knew that his shirts were supposed to be dry-cleaned. After the washer finished, she threw them in the dryer, and as she suspected, all of Elijah's shirts came out pink. Giggling, she folded them neatly and placed them on his side of the bed and hid his other shirts so that he'd have to wear one of the pink ones.

When the doorbell rang, she went to answer it and was surprised to find Alistair on the other side. "Hello," she said. "What brings you here?"

"Utter loneliness," he replied. "I mean, Astrid is visiting her sister and Helene is living with Adrian, so I'm by myself at home."

"Well, come in," Selina said, grinning. "Can I get you anything?"

"You seem cheerful for someone whose marriage is on the verge of imploding. Of course we both know where the cheer comes from," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Will you stop judging me?" Selina asked. "I have the right to be in a stable relationship, okay?"

"I agree," Alistair said, surprising her. "If all the time I spent telling Klaus how to _have _a relationship period is any indication, I don't think the two of you would have ever stabilized."

"Well, the only time we _did_ was when I was nuts," Selina said. "And now I'm not. I've gotten better. I've started being a good mom and cooking and doing laundry."

"You do laundry now?" Alistair asked, looking surprised. "I mean, I'm sure I've seen you do it before, but...you just don't seem like the laundry doing type."

Happily, Selina led him to the bedroom. He saw Elijah's shirts on the bed, and the eyebrow rose again. "Why are all these shirts pink? And shrunk?"

"I threw them in with a pair of new red panties and I shouldn't have I guess," Selina said.

Alistair picked up one of the shirts and studied it. "Well, these are dry-clean only for starters," he said. "You aren't supposed to throw them in the washing machine at all, much less with a pair of red panties."

"Well, shoot," Selina said. "I didn't know that. Can you fix it? But make sure they're still pink, please?"

"Why?" Alistair asked her. "Selina, what's going on?"

"I got a bird and he killed it, so I'm taking revenge," Selina said. "The pink will look nice with the gum I spit in his hair. And you know he's not going to get the gum cut out right away, 'cause Elijah won't let just _anyone_ cut his hair."

Alistair put up a hand. "Wait just a minute! He killed your bird, so you spat gum in his hair and are turning his shirts pink."

"Not _all_ of them," Selina countered. "Just the white ones."

"Fine," Alistair sighed. "I'll make them fit normally, but I won't take the pink out."

"And make sure you put them back where Elijah will find them," Selina called as she headed out of the bedroom and waited for Elijah to come back.

When Elijah came back from visiting Elissavetta, who'd nagged him about avoiding her, he was pleased to see Selina standing by the door waiting for him. She was holding a glass of red wine out for him, but as he went to hug her, it spilled all over his shirt.

"Oh, damn, I'm so clumsy!" She said. She dabbed at it the best she could with cold water, but there was still the lingering hint of a stain.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "I can just go and change. It won't take me any time at all." She followed him to their bedroom. "Alistair stopped by," she said. "He told me Astrid is out of town and he's lonely at home by himself, so I told him he could stay with us for a little while. That's not a problem, is it?"

"No," Elijah shook his head. "Of course not." When he saw the shirts on the bed, he froze. "Are those my white shirts?" He asked her. "What happened to them?"

"I washed them," she said. "I shouldn't have done that, I know. But Alistair only told me that _after_ I took them out of the dryer."

"But why are they _pink_?" Elijah asked, picking up the sleeve of the top shirt and examining it with dismay.

"I had a new pair of red panties in the same load," Selina said. "Apparently, I shouldn't have done _that_ either. Alistair unshrunk them, but he couldn't make them white again. I'm sorry."

He glared at her. "No, you aren't!" he said. "You _know_ you aren't supposed to put my dress shirts in the laundry, _especially_ not with your red panties! Why are you _doing_ this?"

"I don't know, _bird killer_!" Selina said. "You tell me!"

He growled. "Why are you still going on and on about that bird?" he asked. "We didn't have it for very long and it was probably full of germs! Lucy could have gotten sick!"

"She can't get sick!" Selina shot back. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

Elijah's eyes narrowed and he picked her up and put her out in the hallway. "I have a shirt to change into," he said. "And you will _not_ be watching me while I do it!"

"Well fine," Selina called back. "Don't think I care about missing out on an opportunity to stare at your naked chest, because I don't!" She blew a raspberry and he slammed the bedroom door closed.

* * *

><p>"So Selina said I could have Lucy for a while?" Klaus asked once Stefan hung up his phone.<p>

Stefan nodded. "Yep. She said it was okay as long as either Anna or I was there with you. She doesn't trust you much, does she?"

Klaus shook his head. "No. And I have no idea _why._"

"I have some ideas," Stefan said. "But we won't get into that now. First, we have to go over to Damon's and get Lucy. Let me handle this. _You_ stay in the car."

"Why can't I come?" Klaus asked.

"Remember how you weren't going to do anything else to make Selina think you're untrustworthy? Starting a fight with my brother about Lucy will _not_ help your case."

"Fine, I'll stay in the car," Klaus said.

When they arrived at Damon's house, Stefan got out of his car and headed up the front steps while Klaus stared morosely out the window.

"You didn't have to come, Stefan," Damon said. "I would have brought Lucy to Selina's. I really would have."

"Well, that's the thing," Stefan told him. Selina told me that Klaus could see her for a bit, so that's where she's going to go from here."

"To Klaus'?" Damon asked, holding Lucy to himself protectively. "I can't send her there!"

"Why not?" Stefan asked.

"I don't trust him!" Damon said. "He might hurt her!"

"He's her _father_," Stefan said. "And based on what I've seen go on between Lucy and Sam, Lucy's pretty tough. If she got hurt, she'd bounce back. Why are you so attached to her all of a sudden?"

"Don't look at me like I'm being creepy!" Damon said. "She loves me too!"

"You've completely lost your mind," Stefan said. "You have to let her go."

"Fine," Damon said. "You _try_ taking her away. Just try."

Stefan got down on his knees so that Lucy, who was sitting on the floor, was closer to him. "Want to come home with me, sweetie?" He asked her. She looked at him curiously for a moment, then looked questioningly up at Damon.

"Tell her it's okay to go with me," Stefan said.

After awhile, Damon sighed and picked Lucy up. "Fine," he said. "But you better watch Klaus like a hawk. I don't want any funny business."

"Look, if Selina said this is okay, why are you so against it?" Stefan asked. "Why are you so attached to Lucy?"

"'Cause she reminds me of how Selina was when she was little, you know, back when she really liked me," Damon said. "I don't get a lot of that these days."

"What happened with Selina was unfortunate," Stefan agreed. "But you have to move on. It would do you some good. After I leave, you should call Wendy. Are the two of you still going out?"

Damon nodded. "Yeah."

Stefan clapped him on the shoulder. "Good, then you won't have to be alone."

"It's not the same," Damon said.

"Maybe not," Stefan replied. "But at least it's something." He picked up Lucy, who was shyly reaching up for him and after she and Damon told each other goodbye, they left the house.

After they were gone, Damon didn't call Wendy. Not yet. He left Sam with the neighbors, got in his car, drove to the movie theater and brought a ticket to a slasher flick called _House of a Thousand Knives_, and every time a person got killed, he killed someone in the audience, their screams blending in with those of the dying victims on the screen. When he'd had his fill, he left the theater, got in his car, and went to Wendy's after he was sure all the blood was washed off his mouth and that his clothes were clean.

* * *

><p>"Well, isn't this special?" Klaus asked Lucy, who was eyeing him nervously. He looked at Stefan. "What should I do now?"<p>

"Well, what did you do with Roxie?" Stefan asked. "Do you even remember?"

"Teddy!" Lucy said.

"I don't have your bear anymore," Klaus said. "Roxie took it."

"No teddy?" Lucy asked. She looked like she was about to cry.

Klaus took off his watch and dangled it in front of her. "See, this is better. It's shiny!"

Lucy shook her head and started to walk away. "I want teddy."

"Well that didn't go very well," Klaus grumbled.

Stefan rolled his eyes. "I'll go call Anna. Maybe she can help."

"This is just sad, Nick," Anna said when she arrived a few minutes later. "No wonder Selina's lost interest in you if you can't even entertain a little kid much less her."

"It's not that I _can't_," Klaus said. "Lucy wants the bear I gave her, and Roxie took it back because it was originally hers, so I don't have it anymore."

"Well then you have to distract her, don't you?" Anna said. "Make her forget all about the bear. Just let me push back our reservations and then we'll go find something for you and Lucy to do."

"Oh, you don't even need to do that," Stefan said. "It'll be more fun getting in if we're late. We'll get better food that way."

"You make a good point," Anna said. She and Stefan looked around for Lucy and found her wrapped in an old blue and red tapestry that she'd managed to pull off the wall. "Did you find a blanket?" Anna asked her. "Is it comfy?"

Lucy nodded. She'd tangled herself in it so that all they could see were her blue eyes and some whisps of blonde hair. Anna picked her up and carried her to the living room, sitting her down on Klaus' lap. "Where'd she go?" He asked. "What's this?"

Anna moved the blanket off Lucy's face and Lucy burst out giggling.

"There she is!" Klaus said. "There's my girl!" That seemed to break the ice between the two of them and then Anna put _Beauty and the Beast_ on and after it ended, Stefan and Anna left Lucy and Klaus to their own devices, pulling out just as a blue Miata pulled into Klaus' driveway.

"Oh, boy," Stefan said. "There's Roxie. I'm glad we're going to miss this."

"Daddy? I have a problem!" Roxie stomped into Klaus' house and gasped when she saw Klaus and Lucy playing with stuffed animals in the living room. "What's going on here?" She demanded.

Klaus looked up. "Hello, Roxanne. Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

Roxie shrugged. "What for? If I miss a test, I can just compel the teacher to give me an 'A'. I mean, Mom would want better than that for me, but she's not here, is she?"

"What caused you to come barging in here when you're supposed to be at school?" Klaus asked.

"It's Vince," Roxie told him. "You have to do something about him! He says he wants to date me and that he won't sleep with me anymore!"

Klaus looked up. "Why would he say that?"

Roxie shrugged. "I don't know! Tony even said Vince should consider himself damn lucky that I allow sex without commitment."

"That's not necessarily true, is it?" Klaus asked her. "You _do_ want commitment from him. If you didn't, I'd have a lot more to worry about. You love Vince, don't you?"

"Yeah," Roxie nodded. "Just like you love Mom. But they're screwing over both of us. Mom with Uncle Elijah, and I bet Vince will start sleeping with somebody else any day now!" She paused and looked at Lucy again. "Why are you so attached to her? She's small and boring."

"You were small and boring once too," Klaus said. "Those playgroups your mother insisted I take you to when you were little weren't exactly my cup of tea."

"Well I didn't like them either, so why did we do it?" Roxie asked.

"I don't know," Klaus said. "I guess I just wanted to bond with you and not let you out of my sight, so that I wouldn't make the mistake I made before."

"What mistake?" Roxie asked. "Did you have another daughter before me?"

"Yes and no," Klaus said. "See, back when your mother and I were first together, she had a little problem with an ex-boyfriend of hers and one night we went to sort it out...

_"Why did you think you could get away with stringing me along like that?" Selina asked the man who was tied to the desk chair in the bathtub, clad only in a tiny pair of swimming trunks. She poured scalding water in his lap. He screamed. _

_"Answer me, Arthur!" She barked._

_"I didn't mean for it to go this far," he said. "My wife and I were having our problems and I needed a break."_

_"Oh, all right, so I was just a toy for you to play with until your wife took you back. Is that it?" She shoved soap from the soap dish into his mouth. His eyes widened and he nodded, muttering pleas around the soap._

_"I don't like to be used, Arthur. I don't." She put the drain down in the tub and went to grab a box of matches, lighting one and putting it against his cheek after she pulled the soap out of his mouth so she could listen to him scream._

_"Keep lighting these and put them on your skin," she said. "I have to go get a knife." But just as she put her hand on the doorknob, the bathroom door opened. "What's all this noise in here?" Klaus asked. "What's going on?"_

_"Oh, this is Arthur," Selina said, pointing to the main in the bathtub. "He's an ex of mine who thought it would be fun to string me along even though he was married."_

_Klaus strode up to him and chortled, looking at his graying hair and the slight belly he had. "Really lowering your standards, aren't you?" He asked, turning back to Selina for a moment._

_"He was a mistake," she nodded. "Jung would say I have an Electra complex. Problems with my daddy make me seek out men like him for relationships. But I believe I'm over that now."_

_"You made a _big_ mistake, mate," Klaus said to Arthur. "I feel sorry for you."_

_"What's she going to do to me?" Arthur asked._

_Klaus shrugged. "I don't know exactly. But I believe it's going to hurt. A lot." He kissed Selina. "Can I get you anything?"_

_"I was just about to go and get a knife, but now that you're here, could you get it for me?"_

_Klaus nodded. "Of course." He came back with the knife and Selina stabbed Arthur in several places until most of his blood had drained into the tub. With his dying breath, he said, "My daughter...my daughter..."_

_"Where is your daughter?" Selina demanded. "What does _she_ matter_?" _But Arthur was dead. Klaus and Selina disposed of his body and then made use of his blood and the tub._

_"What do you think Arthur meant about his daughter?" Selina asked when they were in bed that night. "Do you think maybe she's still alive? Maybe we should kill her so no one will be able to trace her father's killing back to us."_

_"It wouldn't hurt to be sure," Klaus nodded._

_The next day, they went to Arthur's house. It was a mess. They heard sobbing and found a little light brown-haired girl of six in one of the bedrooms. _

_"Are you Arthur's daughter?" Klaus asked her. "What's your name?"_

_"Mary Anne," the girl said through tears. She was a pretty child with big brown eyes. "Where's my daddy?"_

_"Your daddy's dead," Selina said. "And soon you will be too. But it won't hurt much. I promise."_

_"Daddy's dead like Mommy?" Mary Anne asked. "Mommy got sick when I was a baby. She died. Daddy said she had the flu."_

_"Just a minute," Klaus said to her. He dragged Selina off to a corner and said, "Let's not kill her. Let's take her with us. What would it hurt, really? She's all alone."_

_Selina growled. "I came to Europe to have fun, Nicky. Not to play nursemaid and mother to a little orphan brat. Let's just kill her and get it over with. Since she's got no parents, she's as good as dead anyway."_

_"You killed her stepmother too?" He asked. "Where's her stepmother?"_

_"She had an unfortunate car crash," Selina said. "It's a shame, really." _

_"Well, I say we take Mary Anne with us. I don't care if you don't want to," Klaus said._

_"Fine," Selina told him. "But you're responsible for her. I don't want any part of this nonsense and she better not cut into our alone time, or she'll see her mother, father and stepmother _real_ quick."_

_Klaus eyed Selina coldly for a moment and then went back and took Mary Anne by the hand. "We're friends of your father's," he said. "Want to come and live with us?"_

_After a moment, she nodded shyly. "All right," she said. "Will you get sick and leave me?"_

_He shook his head and put a hand on her cheek. "No, sweetheart. I won't. And I can make it so _you'll_ never be sick either."_

_Mary Anne's eyes widened. "Really?"_

_Klaus grinned, ruffled her hair and nodded. "Really. Let's go."_

"So you 'adopted' a little girl when you and mom were first together and Mom hated her?" Roxie asked. "That's so weird to think about. What happened to her?"

Klaus shrugged. "I don't know. We were together until '29. That's when I turned her. Then, your mother disappeared, I left Europe to look for her, and eventually Mary Anne and I got separated. I lost track of her. I don't know where she is. But your mother made her life a living hell when we were together. She can do that sometimes, if someone makes her mad enough."

* * *

><p>"How much longer are we going to let this go on?" Elijah asked. "Haven't we both had enough?"<br>"Let what go on?" Selina asked, bringing a knife down on a red apple and splitting it neatly in two.  
>"This back and forth between you and me," he said. "Actually, I haven't done anything since I rid this house of that bird."<br>"That in itself is the problem," Selina said. "You shouldn't have killed him. Look where it got you."  
>Elijah looked at himself in the mirror and gingerly fingered the section of his hair where a wad of Selina's gum had made itself at home. "I can't believe you spit gum in my hair."<br>Selina smirked. "It's not like you're committing a fashion faux pas though. The gum and your shirt are the same color."  
>"I don't understand how <em>that<em> happened either," Elijah said. "You're just lucky my shirts didn't shrink!"  
>"Actually they did," Selina said. "Alistair was nice enough to fix them for you, though."<br>"Why did you have to make Lucy hate me?" Elijah asked her. Lucy hadn't come near him since the bird died. "Was that really necessary?"  
>"You made her hate you," Selina said. "She was very upset to learn that Uncle Elijah killed her pet birdy."<br>Elijah shut his eyes. "If I tell you I'm sorry, will you just fix things, please?"  
>Selina cut the apple again and handed him half. "No, I'll fix it now. I suppose the possibility of Nicky seeing you in a pink shirt is punishment enough. I'll go get your others and then we'll cut your hair."<p>

* * *

><p>"Now are you sure you know what you're doing?" Elijah asked as he watched her handle a pair of shiny shears. "You've done this before?"<br>"Of course," Selina nodded. She went to his bathroom and got some of his hair supplies and put them on the kitchen table next to him.  
>"Shut your eyes if you're nervous," she said. "I want to do this."<br>He adjusted the table cloth she put over him, wiped off some water that was dripping down the side of his face from his wet hair and tried to relax. Even so, he started a bit when he heard the first snip. "Gum is gone," Selina said. "Now I just have to even it all out."  
>Eventually, Selina told him he could open his eyes again and handed him a mirror. He eyed himself and then stood up and let the table cloth drop. "That doesn't look so bad, actually," he said.<br>Selina rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't gush," she said. She ran her fingers through his dark hair. "I like it better this way. It's easier to touch." She put her arms around him and inhaled. "You smell really good..."

He put his hand under her chin and brought her face up. Then he kissed her, backing her up against the wall.  
>"Maybe I should have cut your hair in our bedroom," she whispered.<br>He picked her up and carried her to their bed. "Maybe you should have," he whispered back against her ear.

She looked up at him. "Just a minute," she said, sitting up. She went into their closet and shut the door.

"What are you doing?" Elijah asked her.

"You can't come in without knowing the password," Selina called back.

"It's the closet," Elijah said. "It doesn't _have_ a password. Now why won't you let me in?"

"Because I'm not wearing anything!" Selina called back.

"That's not really a deterrent," he said. "Especially not right now." A few minutes later, she opened the door, just wearing a pair of red panties.

"These are the panties that wrecked your shirt," she said. "Do you hate them?"

He nodded. "I do. I should take them off of you and we should throw them away." He pulled her to him and kissed her, lowering her down to the floor, peering at her. He swirled his tongue around her belly button and put his hand against her panties, rubbing hard. She reached up and unbuttoned his shirt and tore it off him, kissing his abs and then he eased off her panties and unzipped his pants. He picked her up and got her on the bed before he entered her.

"I knew you wouldn't do me on the floor," she said.

He shook his head and kissed down her neck. "Of course not. That's barbaric." He backed out of her and pulled his pants and underwear off, so they were both naked and rolling around, giggling under the covers. Finally, they sat up and kissed each other on the lips several times before taking deep breaths and leaning against each other. Then, they heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Selina called.

"It's Alistair!" He called back. "Should I wait a few minutes before I come in?"

"Yes!" Selina nodded. "Just a minute!" Selina and Elijah separated and got out of bed. Elijah put his pants back on and Selina put on a bathrobe. Alistair came in a few seconds later. "I only came in because I found out something you might want to know too. I got a call from Helene and she says that she and Adrian are married now."


	5. Mary Anne

Selina's jaw dropped. She snatched the phone away from Alistair. "Is anyone on the line now?" She demanded of him.  
>He shook his head. "No. Helene hung up."<br>Selina nodded and began dressing. "I need to go over and find out more about this marriage thing. I'll pick up Lucy from Klaus' cause I told him he could see her for a bit, then I'll go over to Adrian's and find out just what happened." She looked at Alistair. "We approve of this, right? Them getting married, I mean?"  
>Alistair nodded. "I've gotten used to the idea."<br>Selina nodded and pulled a sweater over her head and then, fully dressed, left the house after telling Elijah goodbye. She picked up Lucy and headed over to Adrian and Helene's.

"So," she said when Adrian opened the door, "When did this marriage happen?"  
>"Just a day or so ago," Adrian said. "I was surprised at first. I woke up with a ring on my finger and no memory of a wedding and I said to myself 'Oh, damn, I hope I didn't marry some tramp."<br>"I was in bed next to him and told him I was very offended by that remark," Helene said. "And he was so relieved to see me, I thought he was going to start crying."  
>"That happened to me on the island," Selina said. "Only I woke up sandwiched between two naked guys and..."<br>Adrian put up a hand. "Okay, Mom. That's enough. You can stop talking now."

Selina grinned. "Oh, okay. So how is it that you can get married, but have no memory of it?"

"He was drunk," Helene said helpfully. "Really, _really _drunk."

"Why would you do that?" Selina asked Adrian.

"Come in the kitchen and I'll tell you," Adrian replied. Selina gave Lucy to Helene and followed him into the kitchen, sitting down next to him at the kitchen table. "So what happened?" Selina said. "You have to tell me everything. Or Helene will, 'cause I'll ask her."

"Actually, she won't be able to tell you anything," Adrian said. "At least not anything accurate. "It's just that ever since we got back together, it seems like all she can think about is getting married and having kids. Now, since I know what life is like without her, I can sympathize with the need to get married, but the thought of having kids scares the hell out of me."

Selina nodded. "I get that. The thought of you having kids scares the hell out of _me_ too. I mean, do I look like someone who should have the title 'Grandma' in any universe?"

Adrian grinned. "You know you don't. But the thing with Helene, she's so _happy_ around kids, you know? She has a friend who works at a daycare center and she spends her days there helping out and I think that just makes the need for kids more urgent for her. And because I want her to be happy, I'm _this_ close to agreeing, even though I _know_ it's not what I want yet."

"Adrian, look at me," Selina told him. "If I've learned _anything_ from the mess that is my love life, _especially_ my marriage to your father, it's that marriage should be a partnership between two people that love and respect one another. Your feelings have merit too, and you shouldn't just lie down and let Helene do something that you aren't ready for just because you risk her being unhappy with you. Stand up for yourself."

"Come here," Adrian said. He stood up and led Selina to the edge of the kitchen that looked out into the living room. Helene had Lucy on her lap and was helping her slowly stroke Rusty, who was lying on his back and looking like he was in heaven. "See?" Helene was saying. "Rusty is a _nice_ doggy. He won't bite you. You don't have to be afraid of him."

Adrian turned away. "How can I deny kids to someone who can pull off a miracle like stopping Lucy from being scared of dogs?"

"You aren't denying her kids," Selina said. "You're just postponing having children until you're both ready for it, which is a very sound idea, given that your child will be, at birth, a witch-vampire hybrid, who will then become a werewolf too after their first kill. That's not something to take lightly. You'll need to take time to prepare for it."

"That's what made me go out and get so drunk," Adrian said. "She was going on and on about having kids and I couldn't handle it anymore, so I left and went to Enid's and got hammered, and apparently, when I got back, I puked all over Helene's favorite silk blouse and _that_'s when she took me to see the judge who married us."

"You just let her run things, don't you?" Selina asked.

Adrian looked shocked. "Well, no, but..."

Selina shook her head. "Normally, I don't advocate you acting like your father, but now would be a good time! Like I said, take a stance, for crying out loud!"

Adrian stood up. "You're right," he said, taking a deep breath. "I need to express my feelings about this whole kid thing because what I feel matters too."

Selina nodded. "Yep!"

He headed into the living room where Lucy was giggling while she and Helene watched Rusty sit and shake and roll over. "Helene?" He asked. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Helene said. "What about?"

Adrian cleared his throat. "I know you really want us to have kids, because it's all you can talk about, but I'm not ready. I will be someday. But not now."

"Oh, that's okay," Helene said. "I wouldn't want to have kids so soon either! Sorry if I've been suffocating you with all the baby talk, but when you spend your days at a daycare center, you really can't talk about much else."

Adrian breathed a sigh of relief. "Really?" He asked.

Helene nodded. "Really." She gave Lucy a hug. "But I won't deny that I love this pretty girl."

"You and everyone else," Selina said. "Listen, would the two of you be interested in watching her for the weekend?"

"Why?" Adrian asked. "You want to dump her off with us so you can spend the weekend in bed with Uncle Elijah?"

"Of course not!" Selina said. "I would _never _just _dump_ one of my kids anywhere. Even with Roxie, the worst I ever did was tie her to the roof of my car during a rainstorm."

"And it wasn't like she didn't have that coming," Helene said. She put Lucy on her feet and Lucy followed Rusty into the kitchen.

"Dad didn't seem so surprised when I told him that we were married," Helene told Selina. "But what's weird was that when I called him, he answered from Elijah's house. He wasn't at home."

"He _is_ with us," Selina confirmed. "He _says _it's 'cause you and Astrid are gone from the house and he's lonely, but I think he just wants to study us."

"Well, can you blame him, really?" Adrian asked. "I mean, one minute you're with Dad, and the next Alistair knows, you and Dad have broken up and you're living with Uncle Elijah. That's got to be a little shocking."

"Well, yeah, but not _that_ shocking," Selina said. "It's not like I'm shacking up with a sixteen year old or something. Elijah and I are two adults in a perfectly normal, stable relationship."

"...And compared to the fact that the rest of the time Alistair's known you, you've vaciliated between tragic and insane in your relationship with Dad, that _would_ make seeing you in a stable relationship shocking for Alistair," Adrian finished.

"In the beginning, your dad and I were stable, in our own way," Selina said. "It was just the two of us, out to see the world. Everything was perfect. Until Mary Anne."

"Who's Mary Anne?" Adrian asked.

Selina sighed. "I suppose you could call her our first 'child'. She was six and the daughter of an ex-boyfriend of mine. Her mother had died right after she was born, during the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918. I killed her stepmother once I found out she existed and I tortured and killed her father soon after that. Your father's and my original plan was to kill Mary Anne as well so that no one would trace her parents' murders to us, but your father, in a rare moment of mercy, asked me if we could spare Mary Anne and take her along with us. Raise her as our own."

"And did you?" Helene asked.

"We did," Selina said. "But I did it under protest. I wasn't really the motherly type back then. I'd just spent the previous thirty-odd years playing grandmother to my son Joshua's children (he was the son I had with Damon before we turned) and it was an experience that I found less rewarding than you might think."

"Because you looked eighteen and the traditional person associated with the word 'grandmother' is an old lady with gray hair who bakes cookies and makes quilts?" Helene asked.

Selina nodded. "Yeah, and that's _really_ not who I wanted to be. I wanted to be a woman of action and found a dependent child to be an interference, _especially_ since, as you would expect, I was the one who chiefly cared for her."

"You didn't kill her, did you?" Adrian asked.

"Mary Anne? No," Selina shook her head. "I don't know _what_ happened to her. I left Europe after the blood on my hands became too obvious and I haven't seen Mary Anne since. Your father would probably be the best person to ask if you want to know more about her. Either of your fathers, because Alistair was with us then too, of course. He was never happy with the way I treated her, and I suppose I regret my behavior now too, but you can't change the past. You just have to move on in the present."

"If you _could_ find her, would you tell her you were sorry?" Helene asked.

"I suppose," Selina said. "But even if she wasn't dead by some miracle, I wouldn't know where to start looking for her."

* * *

><p>"There was nothing on the boat," Mikael said. "Where do you suppose we should look next? Lonely Heart is as sneaky as ever. You wouldn't think it would be <em>this<em> difficult to find a murderess. Women aren't usually the best at keeping their crimes secret, what with feeling guilt after each kill. Most of the vampires I've caught over the years have been women."

"Well there has to be something," Aleksandr said. He paused and looked up at his father. "What if the woman who committed the murder on the boat wasn't Lonely Heart at all, but a copycat killer? It would explain why the method isn't exactly the same and how the trail went cold."

"That could be a possibility," Mikael said. "Some new vampire studying up on the infamous killers of the past and looking to repeat their notorious crime sprees. We'll just have to keep our eyes peeled for any more murders, and if there _are_ any, then we'll pursue them."

Aleksandr nodded. "I'm going to go out and wander around for awhile, clear my head a bit."

"Watch out for yourself," Mikael called after him. "You know what's out there."

Aleksandr turned. "If I run into trouble, I will take care of it without mercy."

He left the house and walked to a nearby lake where a group of people were holding a picnic. Curious, he sat on the side of the lake opposite the picnic, next to a girl wearing jeans and a purple sweater who watched the group intently.

"Excuse me," Aleksandr said her. "Do you know what's going on over there?"

She shrugged, pushing her brown hair out of her eyes. "It's a party for a group of single parents and their children. They have meetings here sometimes. They've asked me to join them, but I don't want to."

"Where are _your_ parents?" Aleksandr asked her. "Are they at the picnic too?"

She shook her head. "I don't have parents. My mother died of the flu, my father was stabbed to death and my stepmother died in a car accident."

"So who takes care of you?" Aleksandr asked. "Anyone?"

She shook her head. "I've learned to take care of myself, be strong. It served me well once I realized I couldn't depend on anyone."

"What's your name?" Aleksandr asked her.

"Mary Anne," she said, not meeting his eyes. "And yours?"

"Aleksandr," he said quietly. "You know, Mary Anne, if you liked, you could come home with me. It's just me and my father. We're not dangerous, I promise."

Mary Anne smirked. "Even if you were, I could handle it. I'm much tougher than I look." She stood up. "You remind me of someone," she said. "Someone I knew a long time ago. He was nice to me. You're not a lot like him, not really, but there's something about you that's the same. I feel like I can trust you." She took Aleksandr's hand. "All right," she said. "I'll come home with you. I have to warn you though, that there's something about me that's strange. I'm not normal."

"Well, what is it?" Aleksandr asked. "I'm intrigued.

"Are you a doctor?" Mary Anne asked. "Or a policeman?"

Aleksandr shook his head. "No. Why would that matter?"

Mary Anne leaned in close to him. "Once, a policeman found me when I was having an attack of my illness and he took me to a hospital where the doctors did all sorts of cruel things to me with electricity and surgery. They even tried to remove part of my brain once. But I killed all the surgeons so they couldn't."

"Well, I don't blame you for doing that," Aleksandr told her as they walked away from the park. "It can't be pleasant having part of your brain removed."

Mary Anne nodded. Her expression was grave. "It happened to another girl at the hospital, and she never said an intelligent word afterward," she said quietly.

"What exactly was it that made the policeman send you to the hospital?" Aleksandr asked.

Mary Anne looked around to make sure no one was watching them and then she said quietly, "I drink blood. I'm a vampire."

"_Are_ you?" Aleksandr asked. "How did _that_ happen?"

"You believe me?" Mary Anne asked in surprise. "No one else ever has."

"Well, I have my own reasons for believing you," Aleksandr told her. "I'm a vampire too. And so is my father."

Mary Anne's eyes widened. "_You're kidding_."

Aleksandr shook his head. "No, I'm not. Father will be interested to meet you. Neither he nor I have ever met any vampires as young as you."

"Yes, well I'm just lucky, I guess," Mary Anne said bitterly." Aleksandr looked at her sadly and put a firm hand on her back. They walked back to Aleksandr and Mikael's house in silence.

"Father, I'm back!" Aleksandr called when they got inside. "And I brought someone with me you'll be interested to meet."

Mikael entered a few moments later. "Who is this?" He demanded when he saw Mary Anne. "We don't have time to be raising children. Take her back wherever you found her immediately."

"You sound like Sera," the girl said, locking eyes with him. "_She_ didn't want me around either."

"Father, this is Mary Anne," Aleksandr said. "She's one of us."

"A vampire?" Mikael said in surprise. "_Her_? Who in their right mind would turn a little girl?"

"I thought he loved me," Mary Anne said. "He told me he did. But Sera poisoned his mind. She probably told him he should get rid of me and he did. I never saw him after '29."

"Aren't you a little young to be in romantic relationships?" Aleksandr asked her.

She shook her head. "It was nothing romantic. Nick was the closest thing I had to a father after my own father was killed. Sera was his girlfriend. She was a bitch. She liked to kill things. And people." A picture on the mantel caught Mary Anne's eye. It was black and white and the young woman with hair in ringlets and wearing a long dress and holding a parasol, looked grave. "That's Sera!" she said, pointing. "You have a picture of her!" She gave him a questioning look. "But why?"

* * *

><p>"So where's Lucy?" Elijah asked when Selina came in the door. "I thought you were going to come back with her."<p>

"Well as it turns out," Selina said, putting her arms around Elijah's neck, "Helene has been thinking a lot about kids lately and it made Adrian nervous, which is why he went out drinking and then he and Helene got married. Anway, I suggested the two of them borrow Lucy for the weekend, to test the parental waters as it were. Lucy didn't seem to mind. She and Rusty are close now, apparently."

Elijah's eyebrow went up. "So you and I are going to be alone all weekend?"

Selina grinned. "We can be as irresponsible as we wanna be."

"But what about Alistair?" Elijah asked. "We have to be mindful of Alistair."

"What about me?" Alistair asked, coming up behind them.

"Selina was suggesting that since Lucy is staying with Helene and Adrian, she and I should take advantage of it," Elijah said. "But of course we don't want to do anything that would make you uncomfortable."

Alistair shrugged. "This is _your_ house, isn't it?" He asked. "Besides, after living with her and Klaus for as long as I did, _nothing_ makes me uncomfortable."

Selina flushed a little. "Well, nice I could help with that," she said and darted away.

"Don't worry," Alistair said to Elijah. "I had plans with friends of mine this weekend so I was going to be gone anyway. Would you tell Selina that?"

Elijah nodded. "Of course."

Alistair headed out and Elijah headed to his and Selina's room. "Looks like we have the house to ourselves for the weekend," he said. "Alistair has found entertainment elsewhere. So, what would you like to do first?"

Selina looked up. "You're kidding me, right?"

He grinned and sat next to her. "What was I thinking?"

"Actually, I wondered if we might do something a little different first," she said, laying her head on his shoulder. "Like, I know how I always go on and on about how I hate Italian opera, but maybe if you and I watched one together, it wouldn't be so bad. And maybe get dinner afterwards?"

"I don't even think I could _compel_ us opera seats at the last minute," Elijah said.

"Oh, I bet you could," Selina said. "It's not _that_ popular." She paused. "I mean, we wouldn't even need to actually go to the opera. There's also the rental store. And you could pick the opera. I wouldn't know any from any other."

They left for the rental store and came back with _La Traviata _a short while later. By the end of act one, however, Selina was nearly in tears.

"How stupid are you, Violetta? I mean _really_?" She shouted at the screen. "You have a perfectly sweet, lovely man who loves you and you just toss him aside like trash because you need your freedom What is your _problem_?" She got up and began hitting the television and then when Elijah finally got her to stop, she turned to face him. "I need to eat something," she said. She went into the kitchen and returned with a carton of vanilla ice cream, a bottle of chocolate syrup and a spoon. She put the ice cream in her lap, squirted a bunch of chocolate syrup into it and then began eating it at an astonishing pace. After the ice cream was gone, she moved on to cookies, then a king-sized candy bar, and as the end credits rolled, she had to go bury herself under her covers.

"I'm sorry," Elijah said to her. "I wouldn't have had you watch it if I'd known you'd react so badly."

Selina looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "It's just such a stupid story," she said, holding her arms out. He held her and stroked her hair. She sniffled. "Doesn't the idiot that wrote it know that love is supposed to fix everything?" She asked. "When somebody tells you they love you, you don't just throw them away! What good are money and social standing if you end up all alone or with somebody who doesn't appreciate you? Violetta and Alfredo should have just said 'screw you' to Alfredo's father and lived happily ever after. That's how it should have ended."

"Well, not everything can be happily ever after," Elijah said. "The world doesn't work that way."

"It could if people thought that it could," she said. Then she sobered and wiped the tears out of her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said. "I know you don't like having to listen to all my perky rambling."

"No!" he said. "I like your perky rambling. It's very refreshing."

Selina leaned her head against Elijah's shoulder and took a deep breath. "You know, you smell really good," she said.

He grinned. "Well, Miss Stinson, I certainly didn't wear the cologne I'm wearing in the hopes it would get your attention and then we'd have a romantic encounter that would take up our whole night."

"You didn't?" Selina said. She got off the bed and removed her skirt and blouse, ending up only in her black bra and panties. Then, she got on the bed and pushed him back against it, climbed on top of him, unbuttoned his shirt, pulled it off and ran her fingers lightly over his stomach. "Well, I certainly didn't wear this underwear in the hope that we would have a romantic encounter that would last all night either." She kissed him and unzipped him, then giggled as she felt him slip off her panties. They rolled around for a little while and then were interrupted by a knock on the bedroom door.

"Just a minute, Alistair!" Selina called.

"It's not Alistair!" Roxie called back. "It's me! Can I come in?"

Selina and Elijah got out of bed and quickly covered themselves up before Selina went to answer the door. "Roxanne, what are _you_ doing here?"

"Dad told me about Mary Anne and I'm curious," Roxie said, striding into the room. "I'd like to know about the one person in the world you were more mean to then me."

"That's not truly why you cam over here, is it?" Selina asked. "Your father sent you to spy on us, didn't he?"

Roxie shook her head. "No. No, he didn't. But while we're on the subject, why don't you like him anymore? He's perfectly nice."

"We've been over this and over this," Selina said. "We just don't click anymore because I'm no longer a psycho! I mean, if you were with a guy who _did_ sleep with you, but had no respect for you whatsoever, would you stay with him or let him go? And this is pretending you aren't with Vince."

"Of course I wouldn't stay with a guy who had no respect for me!" Roxie said. "I deserve better than that!"

Selina nodded. "And so do I. I mean, it's not that my attraction to your father is completely gone, _but _I've learned that there are more important things in a relationship than just sex. There's also mutual respect and sharing common interests and...stuff like that. Like what you've got with Vince. Elijah is kind of like my Vince."

"Ah." Roxie said. "Now I kind of get it." She sighed. "Well, I suppose I better be on my way. I have someone moving in with me tonight and I want to get a new apartment before she shows up."

* * *

><p>"Yes?" A young man with spiky bright red hair and a stud in his eyebrow gave Roxie an appraising look when he opened the door to his penthouse. "What can I do for you?"<p>

"Listen, Mr. Penthouse," Roxie said. "You're going to have to move out. I want this space. Mine is a bit small."

"Look," he smirked. "If you want to be one of my groupies, you don't have to come up here under the guise of wanting to take the apartment from me." He boldly looked her up and down. "You're hot enough, I guess. Come on in."

Roxie's eyes narrowed. "You're a real ass, you know that?"

He laughed. "That's what all the papers say. Torch Barrows, rock star. I just released my fourth album. What's _your _name, Gorgeous?"

Roxie gasped as she felt his hand on her butt. She grabbed it and snapped his wrist. He screamed.

"It's none of your damn business what my name is," she said. "Now, I didn't come here so you could feed me a bunch of bullshit about being one of your vapid, shallow, bubble-brained groupies, all right? I came here because I want this apartment, and _you_ are going to give it to me!"

Torch was clearly in horrible pain and trying not to show it. He gave her a watery smile. "What will you do to me if I don't?" He asked her.

"Let me show you," she said. She began herding him toward a large window, then she grabbed a sculpture and smashed the glass, shoving Torch out the window, laughing as he screamed all the way down and hit the ground with a bone-smacking thud. Once it was all over, Torch was laid out on the sidewalk below, his neck, arms and legs each at a grotesque angle. Roxie nodded with satisfaction and went to call the police and tell them about Torch's unfortunate suicide. Then, she went down to see the landlord and get a new set of keys for the penthouse.

* * *

><p>"How exactly did you get the penthouse?" Klaus asked as he entered the front room holding a box that contained Roxie's bed covers.<p>

"I just used a little persuasion," Roxie said. "That's all. Listen, I saw Mom today and she says there's a part of her that's still attracted to you."

"Of course there is," Klaus said. "It's just werewolf biology." He got out the blankets and they began making the bed. Just then, the doorbell rang. "There's my new roommate," Roxie said. "Are you going to be okay in here?"

"Sure," Klaus nodded. "Go ahead and get the door."

Roxie opened the door and saw Agnes and her parents on the other side. "Are you the girl who invited Agnes to live with her?" Agnes' mother asked.

Roxie nodded. "Yes. Roxie Mikaelson. Nice to meet you. Come in. You don't have to stand out there all night."

They came and sat on the sofa. "Now," Roxie said, "each one of us will have our own room and the only people who will visit are my friends and Agnes knows all of them cause they go to our school. And this is a very safe building, so you have absolutely nothing to worry about in regards to your daughter's well-being. She'll be safe here with me."

"Roxanne, I've finished making up the bed!" Klaus' voice drifted into the living room quite suddenly.

"Who is that?" Agnes' mother asked. Just then, Klaus came in. "Oh, hello," he said. "You must be Roxanne's roommate. I'm-"

"He's just a friend," Roxie said. "He doesn't live here. Goodbye, friend." She pushed Klaus into the hallway and told him goodbye.

"Does he visit often?" Agnes' father asked.

"No," Roxie shook her head. "No, he doesn't. Any more questions?"

"No," Agnes' parents stood up, kissed Agnes goodbye, and then left. Once they were gone, Agnes gave her a wink. "Who is that guy, really? Your 'friend'? You can tell me. I think he's cute."


	6. I Can't Do It Alone

Roxie wrinkled her nose. "No, he _isn't_," she said. "He's not cute at all. He's my...friend."

Agnes nodded. "I know. You said that before."

"And besides," Roxie continued, "he has a girlfriend already. And she's _very_ posessive of him."

"Really?" Agnes asked. "Well, that's not very healthy, is it? You and Vince could take a lesson from them."

Roxie narrowed her eyes. "_Excuse me_? I am _not_ possessive of Vince! When he said he wanted to move out, I let him. If I was possessive, I wouldn't do that!

"How come when he and I did that project for chemistry you wouldn't even let us have two seconds alone?" Agnes asked.

"I don't have to explain anything to you," Roxie said, locking eyes with her. "Now _shut up._" Agnes tried to open her mouth, but found that she was unable to. She ran for the front door, opened it, then ran into the hallway.

"Who is _that_?" Klaus asked, coming inside. He was smirking.

"Her name's Agnes," Roxie said dismissively. "She's a friend of Vince's."

"A friend or a '_friend_'?" Klaus asked.

"A regular friend of course. He shouldn't want to have any more 'friends'." Roxie made air quotes like Klaus had. "He has me after all. Who else does he need?"

"You know, I always thought the same about your mother, but we both know how _that_ turned out." Klaus was looking bitter.

"Maybe you should give it a rest with Mom for awhile," Roxie suggested. "If you push, it'll just make her more resistant, but..."

"Did I hear that Agnes girl say she thought I was cute?" Klaus interrupted.

"Maybe," Roxie asked. "Why do you care though? She's human, a kid, and not even very pretty on top of that. I would have thought you had standards for anyone you wanted in your bed, but apparently not."

Klaus looked disgusted. "For god's sake, Roxanne! I don't intend to let her anywhere _near_ my bed. But if she happens to come around occasionally and tell me how brilliant and wonderful and handsome I am, I don't see the harm in that."

"Why her?" Roxie continued. "Is it because she's the only one dumb enough to fall for your tricks like Mom doesn't any more?"

"Come on, Roxanne," Klaus said. "I'm lonely. You of all people should understand what that's like with Vince gone and everything. And don't tell me you feel sorry for her."

Roxie scoffed. "Of course not! The whole reason why I invited her in the first place was because I needed someone to take care of things around here. You know, the cooking and cleaning and whatnot. But if _you_ take her, who'll take care of me?"

"You could try doing things yourself," Klaus suggested.

Roxie burst out laughing. "Oh, please, Daddy. I can't breathe. I can't-" She doubled over again and fell to the floor. When she was finally able to get a breath, her cheeks were pink and her elbows were bruised.

"What _is_ it that you have against being self-reliant?" Klaus asked her. "When I was growing up, we had to do _everything_ ourselves and it didn't cause me any harm."

"Well, when you were growing up, dinosaurs still walked the earth," Roxie said sourly. "And I tried to cook once, but when I gave Vince a bit of what I made, he made this yucky face and told me never to go near the stove again. I figure it's sensible advice. As for cleaning, it's just gross, so why do it if I can get someone else to?"

"I suppose you have a point," Klaus told her. "But I really don't think your mother would approve of that sort of behavior. That's why she made you take the job at Enid's."

"And you think she'll approve of you going after some kid?" Roxie asked. "She's going to be madder with you than she would be with me."

Klaus shook his head. "I think not. I think she'll be grateful for the fact that I seem to be moving on as she did."

"But you _aren't_ moving on," Roxie said. "Not really. You're just dulling the pain a little, putting a blanket over the real problem."

"Well, I can't do much else about it, can I?" Klaus asked. "Considering how cozy your mother and your uncle have become."

"Oh, yes they have," Roxie nodded. "When I went over to Uncle Elijah's, they were in bed again. Thank god I kncked this time so I didn't _see_ anything." She shuddered.

"Well, I suppose we'll have to do something about that, won't we?" Klaus asked.

"Well, what can we possibly do?" Roxie asked. "Mom seems to think she's not going to change her mind this time, no matter what you do."

"Are you suggesting I just give up?" Klaus asked. "Is that what you plan to do with Vince?"

"Of course not!" Roxie said. "But I don't have to anyway. He didn't dump me like Mom dumped you. He just changed the parameters of our relationship a bit..."

"And I can't believe you let him," Klaus said. "Roxanne, you have to stay in control of these things. Once you give _up _control, you lose everything."

"Could this need for control that you have be one of the reasons Mom left you?" Roxie asked. "Because it seems to me that giving up control every once in awhile is healthy. But what do _I _know?"

A short while later, the phone rang. "What?" Roxie asked, picking it up.

"What did you _do_?" Vince asked. "Agnes showed up here, terrified and not able to say a word!"

"Who says I did _anything_?" Roxie asked. "She probably just has laryngitis. Give her some tea with lemon and she'll be better in a couple of days."

"She says her voice went away after you told her to shut up. She wrote it down on a piece of paper."

"Well, of course I told her to shut up, Vince!" Roxie said. "She was going on and on about how cute she thinks Dad is. Do you think I should have just stood there listening to it?"

Vince's tone changed. "She told you she has a crush on your dad?"

"Yeah," Roxie replied. "She did. What's the matter? Upset you've been replaced in her affections?"

Vince ignored this. "You should tell your mom," he said. "She should know."

"Why?" Roxie asked. "I don't see why Mom needs to be involved."

"Her werewolf jealousy," Vince said gently. "It's less likely to kick in if the person isn't surprised by any competition they have for their mate."

"Oh, please," Roxie said. "Are you seriously suggesting that Mom will be jealous of Agnes if she finds out about Agnes' little crush?"

"It upset _you_ fast enough, didn't it?" Vince pointed out. "Enough to compel Agnes' voice away. Why don't you come over here and fix that? No, actually, we'll come to _you._"

"Why can't I come over to Tony and Charlie's?" Roxie asked. "Do you have someone over there you don't want me to know about?"

"No," Vince said. "Of course not. But I have other reasons that are perfectly sound and I don't have to share them with you," he said. "You should trust me."

"Fine," Roxie sighed. "You gonna be here in a few minutes?"

"Yeah," Vince said. "And don't forget to call your mom. It's important."

"Fine," Roxie said. She called Selina's number and let it ring for quite some time, but no one answered.

* * *

><p>Selina and Elijah had put on their warm clothes and jackets and gone out on the deck to look at the stars.<p>

"Are you cold?" He asked her. "We can go back in any time you'd like."

"I hear the phone ringing," she said. "Should we go in and get it?"

He took her hand. "No," he said. "Whatever it is can wait. We've had enough delays, haven't we?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh." She slipped off her glove so that the two of them were touching bare skin to bare skin. "You're still surprisingly warm," she said. "That's reassuring." Just then, something went into her eye.

"What was that?" She asked. She looked up. It was snowing. "Time to go inside and warm up," Elijah said. "And I know the perfect way." He grinned devilishly at her.

"We _could_ do that," Selina said. "But I have a different idea. Let's stay out here."

"Why?" He asked her. "I thought you hated nature."

"Most of the time, I do, but snow is different."

"How so?" Elijah asked.

Selina grinned, and jumped off the low edge of the deck into a pile of snow that had accumulated and gathered some of it up into a rather sizeable snowball, aiming at the chest of Elijah's coat. "Snow lets me do this!" She said and threw it. It landed on his jacket and he looked down at it, then back up at her.

"I bet you're shocked I did that." She said.

He shook his head. "No, not really. Just the thing I'd expect out of you."

She grinned. "Aren't you going to fight back? It's not really a snowball _fight_ if I'm the only one who's doing all the throwing." She paused. Her grin widened. "Or maybe you're just a chicken."

He grabbed a bunch of snow of his own and came over and dumped it right on Selina's head. She shrieked. "I am not," he said firmly.

"Shit, that's _cold_," Selina said, giving him a dirty look. "At least when I threw the snowball at _you_, it only hit your jacket."

"Are you giving up on the fight now, even though you're the one who proposed it?" He asked her.

"Oh, I didn't say anything about giving up," Selina said, shaking her head. "I was just being critical of your less-than-gentlemanly tactics." She threw another snowball. Elijah tried to avoid it, but this one hit him in the face. "That's my girl," he whispered. He wiped the snow out of his eyes and came after her with his next one. She hid behind a tree, and then tried to scurry up it to get snow off a branch to come down on top of him, but he lifted her off before she'd even moved an inch.

"Hey!" She protested. "Put me down! Put me down right this minute!"

"What if I don't want to?" He asked.

She grinned sweetly. "Will you _please_ put me down? If you want a break, you have to say 'time out' first and you didn't."

"Time out," he said against her ear. Then he threw her down in a pile of snow and got down on his knees, kissing her.

She kissed him back for a little while, then pushed him off her. "Oh, no!" She said. "You can't start pulling stuff like that just because you're losing."

"I don't think I'm the one who's losing," he said. "It seems like you are."

"Only cause you keep cheating," she said.

"If that _was_ considered cheating," he told her, rolling back next to her and picking a snowflake out of her hair, "then you didn't seem to mind."

"Yeah, well..." She got up and shook the snow off her jacket and back onto the ground. "I think I'd like to go inside now. I can't feel my hands." She began walking toward the house, whistling absent-mindedly. Elijah followed, but when they reached the deck, she turned around and quickly made a snowball in each hand and threw them at him. "I win!" She crowed.

Elijah sped over to her, picked her up, carried her up the stairs to the screen door that led to the living room and pushed her gently against the wall next to the door and kissed her deeply again. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him back."Let's call this a draw," he said when they pulled apart. She nodded, unable to come up with a word. They went inside and Selina sat down on the sofa while Elijah made a fire in the fireplace.

"Do you need help getting your coat off?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "No," she said, pulling it off without difficulty and throwing the shapeless red mass on the floor. "I'm good." She took off her shoes too and threw them by the door. "_But_," she said, "I wouldn't mind a little help with everything else. Would_ you_?"

He grinned. "No, of course not." He went to grab the empty laundry basket and they stripped off each other's wet clothes until they both stood facing one another in their underwear.

"Black lace," Elijah said, running his hand lightly over her panties. "I hoped we'd be able to finish what we started."

She grinned. "Well, I hoped so too." They grabbed a quilt from the closet, lay down in front of the fire and resumed kissing. Before long, they were rolling around under the blanket, the cold outside forgotten, Selina's giggles and shrieks echoing around the room.

"All right," Selina said when at one point she ended up on top. "So, Mr. Richmond, looks like I'm the boss here."

Elijah took her hand and pulled her forward a little. "I'm not protesting," he said. "I don't mind this occasionally. But are you cold?"

"Maybe a little," she said, easing off him. "Can I go get one of your shirts?"

He nodded. "Of course." She ran to his closet and when she came back, she was wearing one of his shirts and a tie, just like in his dream. "Now where were we?" She asked.

He grinned. "I think we were right about here," he said and backed her up against the wall, kissing her again. He unbuttoned her shirt and pushed it off her and found that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath. He lowered her down to the floor and cupped one of her breasts, kneading it gently. Selina moaned and said, "You know, Nicky pointed out once that my breasts and I are a lot alike. We've been through a lot, but we're still amazingly perky."

Elijah had to laugh a little at that. "Well, he's not wrong."

After they'd finished and were resting in each other's arms, Selina said, "I think I should call Adrian and see how things are going with Lucy. You know, in case I need to do any damage control."

"I don't see how you would," Elijah said. "Lucy isn't Roxanne. She's much sweeter."

Selina nodded. "I suppose. But Roxie can be sweet too, when she wants something. Speaking of Roxie, her birthday's almost here. I should probably think up a way to celebrate."

"I bet Roxie's birthday is her favorite day of the year," Elijah mused. "The one day where people _have_ to pay her attention."

"Well, it's not like I had any other choice when she came into the world, you know. My water broke after a car accident," Selina said. "Vince's Uncle Pete and I were off to pick up Nicky and Adrian from some place they'd put themselves after a failed attempt at father-son bonding, Pete slid on the ice and voila...next thing you know, Roxie was on her way. She knew how to make an entrance even then." She took a deep breath and lay her head on Elijah's shoulder for awhile before going to dress and dialing Adrian.

"What's up, Mom?" Adrian asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Selina said. "I'm just calling to make sure _you_ are. Is Lucy behaving herself?"

Adrian took his ear away from the phone for a moment and watched Lucy, who was following Rusty around the living room and mimicking his every move. At the moment, they were rolling across the living room. Then, Rusty paused on his back and whined for Helene to come rub his stomach. She did, and then laughed as she noticed that Lucy was on _her_ back, waiting for the same thing. Helene rubbed Lucy's tummy and then picked her up and took her into the bedroom they'd made up for her and then brought in crayons and paper.

"No, we're good," Adrian assured his mother. "Things are going okay here."

"Good," Selina said. "If you need help with anything, don't hesitate to give me a call."

Just after she hung up with Adrian, the phone rang again, making her start. When she saw who it was, she rolled her eyes. "What is it, Roxanne?"

"I've been trying to call you _forever_!" Roxie said exasperatedly. "Why haven't you been picking up?"

"Cause I've been having a life," Selina said. "What do you want?"

"There's something you should know about Dad," Roxie told her. "He's interested in somebody else."

"He is?" Selina said. "Well that's _wonderful_! It's about time. Have you met her?"

"Yeah," Roxie said. "She's my roommate. And a human girl."

"Wait," Selina said. "You're father is in love with a human girl?"

"I didn't say he was in love with her, I said he was _interested_ in her. There's a difference. She was pulled in by his charm too, for the record. She's not some unwilling victim. She's _very_ willing. And Dad seems pretty determined about the pursuit too."

"Well, if it's yout roommate, it'll be easy to watch her, won't it?" Selina asked. "Don't try and discourage your father. If you do that, he'll only turn balky."

"You don't need to tell me that," Roxie said. "I _know_ it."

"Of course you do," Selina said. "You're the same way."

"Well, if I can't say anything to get Dad away from her, what can I do?"

"Why do you care what happens to some human girl?" Selina asked. "Usually you don't give a damn at all."

"Well, I've never had to be in the situation where the human could potentially become my stepmother!" Roxie said. "I mean, he said he wouldn't sleep with her, but you know how he is about having people around to keep his ego inflated. Marriage _would_ be the easiest way to ensure that."

"And why don't you want to marry Vince then?" Selina asked. "If you want the same result?"

"I don't," Roxie said. "I'm not as starved for affection as Dad is. Or you. Vince and I are going to wait a couple years and decide how much farther to go once we hit twenty."

"Are you okay with that?" Selina asked.

"Well, no," Roxie told her. "I mean, he's even said we can't have sex anymore!"

Selina peeked around the edge of the kitchen to Elijah who had redressed and was reading a book on the sofa. "They say that sometimes, but they don't always mean it," she said. "Sometimes, a little persuasion can change their minds."

"You mean you and Uncle Elijah," Roxie said. "Since the two of you are having sex now, does that mean you aren't gonna divorce dad?"

"Oh, I am," Selina said. "It's just something that needs to be taken slowly. Something your father needs to be convinced of. The most important thing to me is that we both agree on it before it happens, cause I still care about him and I don't want to leave him blindsided."

"Dad will probably bring her to my birthday," Roxie said. "The girl he's interested in, I mean. "You'll see her then."

"All right," Selina said. "And don't think that that's gonna make my werewolf jealousy kick in, because it won't. What does the girl look like, anyway?"

"Light, frizzy hair, big brown eyes, glasses, freckles. Not pretty at all." Roxie said dismissively. "Even so though, she's making a move on your mate. Doesn't that count for _something_? I mean, when she and Vince first became friends, it drove me berserk!"

"And it would drive me nuts too if I didn't have this relationship with your uncle to keep me grounded," Selina said. "Speaking of your birthday, what is it that you want to do for it?"

"Dinner," Roxie said. "Grandma's probably planned the rest, something big. Cause this is a really big birthday I'm at, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Selina said. "It is. If I actually aged, I'd probably be _really_ depressed right now."

"Could you ask Uncle Elijah if he knows anything about what Grandma has in store for my party?" Roxie asked.

"Why? Don't you want to be surprised?"

"I can fake it," Roxie said. "Don't worry about me! Just ask!"

Selina rolled her eyes and took the phone away from her ear. "Elijah, Roxie wants to know if your mother told you anything about what she has planned for Roxie's birthday and if so, what?"

Elijah looked up and shook his head. "She didn't mention anything," he said. "But then again, she was too busy with that _boyfriend_ of hers to notice anything else." He grimaced and then went back to his book.

"Uncle Elijah says he doesn't know anything," Selina said to Roxie, then told her goodbye and hung up the phone. Then, she went to sit next to him. "Are you all right?" She asked. "What's the matter?"

"When Mother wanted me to come over because she claimed I'd been ignoring her, I thought it would be just us, but when I got there, I saw that Niklaus' father was there too," Elijah said. "I don't like that."

"I know," Selina said. "But-"

"I mean, who did he think he was, destroying our family like that? I concede that Father wasn't the easiest to live with, but still..." He sighed. "I just wish Father would come back. I haven't heard from him for years. And I just, I think that..." He trailed off. "Don't listen to me. I'm being silly."

"You think that if your father comes back and sees your mother, then they'll be with each other again, don't you?" Selina asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Of course not," he said. "That kind of thinking gets people absolutely nowhere. Besides, how can I think it when in a way, I'm no better than Niklaus' father? Worse, in fact."

"How are you worse?" Selina asked.

"Well, you're still married to Niklaus, aren't you?" Elijah asked. "You haven't even _mentioned_ divorcing him. And yet, I still let us carry on, just like we were. It's wrong. We should stop."

"Didn't you hear me talking to Roxie on the phone?" Selina said. "I'll bring up divorce with Nicky as soon as I see him next. This is the perfect time! Roxie says he's moved on, anyway." She paused. "Does that change things? Are we okay? Or do you want me and Lucy to move out?"

Elijah shook his head. "No, I don't want you and Lucy to move out. I want you to stay. But do you promise me that you'll bring up the divorce with Niklaus next time you see him?"

"Of course," Selina nodded. "Next time I see him, I will bring it up first thing. Do you want to come with me as my date to Roxie's party? Or not?"

"No," Elijah shook his head. "I think I'll stay home if that's all right with you."

* * *

><p>Roxie woke up on her birthday feeling let down. She dressed and ordered Agnes to bring her breakfast. Agnes was actually a pretty good cook, if she was totally honest. After she ate, she dressed and went down to the parking lot to get her motorcycle. To her dismay, it was gone.<p>

"Damn, seriously?" Roxie cried. "First my boyfriend is gone on my birthday and now my bike! Can this day get any worse?" She marched back up to the apartment and grabbed the phone, dialing Vince's number. "I want to see you," she said. "My bike's gone."

"Is it?" Vince asked. "What did I tell you about leaving stuff like that in parking lots over night in the middle of the city? I told you that one day, somebody was going to take it, and I was right, wasn't I?"

"For god's sake, stop being so self-righteous and come and pick me up! You be here in five minutes. And I've moved to the penthouse, so don't look in my old apartment!" She slammed the phone down, and sat on the sofa to wait for Vince. When he, Tony and Charlie came to the door, they were all smirking.

"What's so funny?" Roxie asked Charlie as they herded her out of the room and out to Vince's car in the parking lot.

"Oh, nothing," Charlie said. "We're just laughing at something we saw on television last night."

"Are you _sure_?" Roxie asked.

"I'm your friend," Charlie said. "Would I lie to you?" She looked innocent. They drove to a building not far from the apartment complex. The building was in a state of decay. It looked as if it had been a factory once, but had been abandoned long ago.

"I'm _not_ going in there," Roxie said when she saw it out the window. "Why would I go in there?"

"It's where your bike is," Vince told her. "I managed to hunt down the guys who snatched it and get it back. But by the time I did, it was too late to bring it back to the apartment, so I just kept it here."

"Oh," Roxie said, her nose wrinkling as Vince helped her out of the car. "This isn't the sort of place I thought I'd be going on my birthday."

"_Is_ it your birthday?" Vince asked her. "I had no idea, otherwise I would have done something! I told Enid we could both work today! She scheduled us!"

"No, I'm not working on my birthday!" Roxie growled. "It's bad enough I have to work at all, let alone on my special day. I hate you and I don't want to talk to you anymore, Mr. 'Man-Who-Forgets-His-Girlfriend's-Birthday!"

Vince looked at Charlie and Tony. "How about that?" He said. "I rescue her bike and she doesn't even say 'thank you'."

"She'll say it once she _sees_ her bike," Charlie said. "I just bet you." They followed Roxie around to the back of the building, but didn't follow her onto the back lot, where her bike, now repainted and with a special new license plate, sat waiting. Roxie saw it and she nearly fell over. "Oh, my god. Oh, my god." She looked around, then got on her knees to examine the new license plate, which read "VLUVSR." Then she stood up and knocked something to the ground that had been on the seat: a dozen red roses, her favorite. "Where did you _get_ these?" Roxie asked. "You can't get red roses locally this time of year!"

Vince grinned. "I know a guy who knows a guy."

Roxie was more than a little flushed now. "It was_ you _who took my bike last night, wasn't it?" She asked.

Vince nodded. "Tony and I both did. We thought it would be a nice surprise."

"Well, thank you," she said. "Thanks a lot. And I guess since I'll see _you_ at work, I guess it won't be so bad."

He gave her a hug. "That's what I hoped you'd say." Then she looked at Charlie. "Is it all right if I hug your husband?" She asked.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, sure. Go ahead."

She gave Tony a hug and thanked him too, and then, leaving the car in the garage, they all grabbed their bikes, which were also stored at the building, and drove back to the apartment building so that Vince and Roxie could get ready for work.

* * *

><p>"Now remind me again why we have all these decorations and streamers out?" Ronan was saying to Elissavetta as he wiped the Enid's bar down.<p>

"Because it's Roxanne's birthday today!" Elissavetta said.

"I wouldn't think you'd ever schedule a party at a place like this," Ronan said. "But then again, you _did_ always surprise me."

"Well, you're having a strange effect on me," Elissavetta said. "You make me feel like I should be nicer to people, you know? And in that spirit, I've decided to throw Roxanne the sort of party she would actually_ want_ rather then the party I think she should have."

"All of this is for Roxie?" Enid asked, one eyebrow up. "You're going to make her be the waitress at her own birthday party?"

"Of course I wouldn't!" Elissavetta said. "But surely you have other people who can work the tables?"

Enid shook her head. "This is a slow night, so I usually just have Roxie and Vince and they manage pretty well. They're both working, and I can't give them the night off now." She watched in dismay as people started coming in and taking seats at the tables, shouting orders for drinks at her.

"Just a minute!" She called jovially. "Vince and Roxie will be here soon and they'll be able to help me out!"

They walked through the doors arm in arm right after she said this about half the group that had been shouting at Enid began shouting at them.

"Ready?" Vince said to Roxie.

She nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be." She went over to the bar and said hello to Elissavetta and Ronan. "What are all the streamers and stuff for?" Roxie asked.

"Your birthday party!" Elissavetta said. "Your parents are going to come in about half an hour and your mother promised she'd bring the cake."

Roxie choked on spit. "We're having my party _here_? _Today_? But if I'm working, I'm not going to be able to enjoy it and what's the point of a party without the guest of honor? We have to reschedule!"

"Oh, surely you won't begrudge others having a good time just because you can't." Elissavetta said. "And besides, it's bad form to cancel a party at the last minute."

Roxie gave Ronan a look. "Help me, please."

"I tried," Ronan said. "But she's like a stone wall."

"You'll have a good time," Elissavetta said. "I promise."

Roxie rolled her eyes and took the first tray of drinks and passed them around, not even noticing when her mother entered the bar. "All right, I've got the cake," Selina called. "Where should I put it? And what are we doing when Roxie shows up? Are we yelling 'surprise!' or what?"

"It was a surprise all right," Roxie said, creeping up behind Selina and making her start and almost drop the cake.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Selina asked. "Are you working?"

"Yeah," Roxie nodded. "I figured that with Vince here, it wouldn't be so bad. I know I won't be able to chat with anyone, but I wouldn't want to wreck anyone's fun by asking to reschedule the party." She glared at Elissavetta when Elissavetta wasn't looking.

"Look," Selina said, "I'll talk to your dad when he gets here and we'll set up something better for you after this, something you'll actually enjoy."

"Speak of the devil," Roxie said as Klaus and Agnes walked into Enid's. "And he brought his new toy with him."

Selina looked up. "You're right," She said after a moment. "She's _not_ that pretty." She put the cake down and went over to the door where Klaus and Agnes were standing. "Hello, Nicky," she said.

Klaus grinned. "Well, hello. Nice to see you, dear. Where's Elijah?"

"He's at home," Selina said. "Being around Ronan upsets him. So I'm here by myself."

"Well isn't that an interesting turn of events?" Klaus said, pulling Agnes against him. "Because _I'm_ not."

"How much did this girl charge you to bring her here?" Selina asked. "Not much, I hope. She's a bit homely, isn't she?"

"Who _are_ you?" Agnes asked. "Roxie!" She called. "Do you know this person?"

"Oh," Roxie put the tray of drinks down and went over to the group. "Agnes, this is my friend's wife." She was starting to regret giving Agnes her voice back.

Agnes pulled away from Klaus. "You're _married_? You didn't tell me that!"

"Because it's not strictly true," Klaus said. "_She_ has moved in with my brother. We haven't been together in months and I'm thinking of divorcing her."

"Well, _good_," Selina said. "That's just what I was going to ask you about anyway. That makes it easier. Enjoy your time with this-this-" She trailed off, not being able to find an adequate descriptor for Agnes, and stalked back toward the bar. Roxie followed her, just as they heard Agnes say "If you're getting a divorce, that's different."

"I thought you said seeing Agnes would have no effect on you," Roxie said. "That was quite a show you put on there. Was it for Dad's benefit, or were those your real feelings?"

Selina sighed and ordered a vodka from Ronan and said, "a little bit of both, maybe. If your uncle was here, nothing would have happened, but since he's not...there's nothing holding me back, holding off the feelings."

A few minutes later, Adrian and Helene came in with Lucy, who had been with them for the day so that Selina could bake without distractions. Selina smiled. "Here's someone that'll get him away from that girl." She took Lucy from Helene and brought her over to Klaus. "Look who just showed up. Your youngest daughter. Surely you can take a break from your romantic pursuits to let a little girl spend time with her daddy?"

Lucy reached for Klaus and Klaus took her and led Agnes away from the door. They sat down at the table and Roxie joined them a few minutes later. "Do you have anything to say to me, Daddy?" She asked.

"I do," he said. "Happy birthday, darling."

Roxie grinned. "Thanks." After she brought drinks for two more tables, she took a break to blow out her birthday candles, and just as she was clearing off cups from another table and sticking the tip in her apron, she saw Ronan gesturing to her.

"What?" Roxie whispered.

"You and Vince go do something nice for your birthday," he said. "We'll handle things all right without you."

"Are you sure?" Roxie asked. "Cause I could stay if..."

"Don't be silly," Ronan said. "Leave. I can tell you want to."

Roxie nodded. "With every fiber of my being." She threw her apron on a chair, then went to get Vince. He took her hand and they ran out of the bar together. Roxie hopped on the back of Vince's motorcycle and they drove away.

"Where are we going?" Roxie asked.

Vince grinned. Roxie could see it in his side mirror. "I know you've probably had enough surprises today, but could you stand one more?"

"Sure," Roxie said. She shut her eyes and relaxed to the rhythm of the bike wheels against the pavement. When they stopped, she looked up and found that they were in front of an empty pond covered with ice.

"Let me guess," she said dryly. "You want to teach me how to ice fish?"

Vince shook his head and laughed. "I can't even do that, but I've always wanted to try." He got off the bike and then helped her off, then led her to the edge of the frozen lake, a bag over his arm. They sat down on a bench and he put on a pair of ice skates and handed her a smaller pair. "I thought I'd teach you," he said. "You said you always wanted to learn."

Roxie smiled. "I _do_ want to learn. And I even trust you enough to teach me." She put the skates on and let him tow her onto the ice. They stood holding onto each other for several minutes before Vince said, "Do you think you feel stable enough to stand by yourself?"

Roxie nodded. "Okay." He let her go and then her foot moved forward a little too much and she fell down. "Well, that hurt!" She said.

Vince laughed. "I thought you said you were ready to stand on your own." She gave him her hand and he pulled her up.

"Well, I was wrong," she said. "Maybe we can save solo skating for another night. For now you'll have to hold my hand and lead me around."

He grinned and took her hand and like that, they sailed around the pond. Roxie's face never hit the ice again, although she lost her balance several times and Vince had to catch her. When they were numb and tired, they left the pond and put on their shoes, then Vince took some Twinkies out of his bag, unwrapped one, stuck a candle on it, and lit it. "Happy birthday," he said to Roxie.

"Thanks," she said and blew the candle out, taking the Twinkie and breaking it in half, putting some in her mouth.

"What did you wish for?" He asked.

"Nothing," she said. "Because my wish from my other candles came true. This is a _much_ better birthday party. Thank you."

He kissed her. "You're welcome," he said.

* * *

><p>"How was the party?" Elijah asked when Selina and Lucy returned home.<p>

"Miserable," Selina said. "Your mother planned it on a night that Roxie was working and refused to reschedule, so we hardly saw her at all. How about you?"

"I didn't do much," Elijah said. "Mostly just stayed around here." He helped Selina put Lucy to bed and then they went to their own room. "Nicky and I talked about the divorce," she said. "He's all for it now. It's amazing what having a more willing toy will do to his thought process." She lay down facing away from him.

"Don't worry about it," he said, rubbing her back. "This is a good thing." He kissed her goodnight and then they ended up making love again until Selina fell asleep. Elijah then turned off the lights, but tossed and turned.

Around two in the morning, the phone rang. Elijah answered it immediately. "Who is this?" He asked.

"Elijah, it's good you're up," Mikael said. "Your brother Aleksandr is with me. We're tracking Lonely Heart but we can't do it on our own. Will you help us?"

Elijah thought of all the people that Lonely Heart had killed, all the families she had destroyed. If she was still out there, she might destroy more. He looked at Selina, who had possibly become her disciple. He had to save her from having the same fate as Lonely Heart, from dying at his father's hands. And this was the best way to do it. He swallowed and said, "Yes, Father. I will help you and Aleksandr find and kill Lonely Heart."


	7. Finally Free

"Do you want some coffee?" Selina asked Elijah the next morning. She'd woken up alone and after getting a bath robe on, she came into the kitchen and sat down, but he hadn't looked up to acknowledge her presence.

"Do you want some coffee?" She repeated. When he said nothing, she sighed, put the coffee put down and snatched his paper out of his hands so that he was forced to look up at her. "I was reading that," he said.

"You still can," she replied. "I'll give it back if you tell me whether you want coffee or not. You didn't even wish me good morning, and usually by this time, I've already endured more than one lecture about how it's better to be dressed for breakfast."

"I'm sorry," he said. "But no, I don't want coffee. Just a piece of toast, I think, and no butter."

"Well that's boring," she said. "I'm a woman of many culinary talents. Challenge me."

"Normally I would," he said. "But I got a phone call this morning and I have to be out of here right away. I have to meet someone."

"Who was it that called?" Selina asked. "Are you referring to the nut that called at two a.m.? Who _does_ that?"

"You _heard_ that?" Elijah asked. "What else did you hear?" His voice rose, sounding a little more threatening than he meant it to. He stood up, looming over her.

"Would you _relax_?" Selina asked. "The only person I heard talking was you and I thought it was some sort of audio hallucination because I was half-asleep anyway."

"Oh, right." Taking a deep breath, sat down and tried to act non-chalant. "You know," he said, "I think I just might have that coffee after all, please."

Selina grinned. "Let me guess: black?"

He shook his head. "No, I like a little milk."

Selina nodded. "All right." She poured milk in both their coffees and when they were both sitting and sipping them, Elijah said, "So what is it that _you're _going to do today? Is picking up Lucy on your list?"

"It _can_ be," Selina said. "Do you miss her?"

He nodded. "Yes, I really do. It's so quiet around here without her."

Selina smirked. "Now, if it were fifteen years ago and we were talking about Roxie, that would be a good thing."

Just then, the door burst open and Roxie strode in. "Breakfast!" She said when she saw them drinking their coffee. "I would like a cheese and spinach omelet with bacon and toast please. And milk and orange juice."

Selina looked nonplussed. "Were you expecting me to make that for you?"

"Well, yeah," Roxie nodded. "You're making stuff for Uncle Elijah and yourself and I'm a guest, so shouldn't I get to eat too? That's just good hospitality."

Selina sighed. "Well, I suppose that since your uncle only wants dry toast and I need a challenge to wake myself up for the day, I'll make you the omelet, but you have to help me. I'm not going to let you just sit there."

"Well, you've obviously never chatted with Vince about how horrible I am around a stove," Roxie said. "He said it himself in no uncertain terms that if I ever pick up a spoon or a spatula, he will cut off my hands."

"Well, that's because you've never asked me for help," Selina said. "While I can't make you a culinary genius by any stretch of the imagination, if you let me help you, I'll at the very least make you competent in the kitchen. Would you like that?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I suppose. If it'll get me my omelet. Is this the only way I'll get my omelet?"

"Yes," Selina said immediately. "It's the only way."

They set about cracking eggs and melting cheese and Selina said to Roxie, "What brings you over here this early in the morning? Something else besides breakfast? You're usually never up before noon. Anything you want to talk about?"

"You mean like Dad and my roommate?" Roxie asked. "They're _definitely_ a problem. So bad, I don't even want to _be_ at the apartment anymore."

"Are they sleeping together?" Selina asked.

Roxie shook her head. "No, and Dad says they won't, but even seeing them sitting on the couch together watching TV makes me want to hurl. It would do the same for you if you saw it. Trust me."

"It's none of my business who your father decides to associate with," Selina said. "I just want him to be happy and the hell away from me."

"So he _is_ seeing someone else?" Elijah asked Roxie.

Roxie nodded. "Seeing, using, manipulating, whatever. And he told me to tell you he's more than happy to get going on a divorce now." She pouted. "This is so not fair! Dad has dozens of minions already. Why does he have to take mine?"

"Your father's never happy unless he's taking things from other people," Elijah said. "He gets joy out of causing others misfortune."

"I just wish he could meet someone else," Roxie complained. "Someone who _isn't_ my roommate."

"So you're okay with him seeing people too?" Selina asked. "I get the feeling you're a little resistant."

"Well _somebody_ has to be, but I suppose it would be wrong of me to hope he spends the rest of his life by himself," Roxie said.

"Actually, he sort of _wished_ to spend the rest of his life by himself," Selina said. "When Vanessa asked him what three wishes he wanted in return for rescuing her, one of them was that he would never fall in love with just one woman, that he would be free to go from woman to woman as he pleased for all eternity. I bet he's wishing he hadn't made that wish _now_," Selina said thoughtfully.

When the omelet was finally done, along with the toast, Roxie sat down again. "So are you going to see Dad about a divorce today?"

Selina nodded. "If he doesn't come and see me first."

* * *

><p>"I didn't come here to be sociable," Selina said when Klaus opened the front door and saw her standing on the other side with Lucy in one arm. "I came because Roxie said you were ready to start divorce proceedings and I'm more than happy to go along with that."<p>

"Well, nice to see you too," Klaus said. He took Lucy and cuddled her. "Mommy's in a bad mood today, I think," he said to her. "I think she misses me."

"I'm not in a bad mood and I don't miss you. I just want to be divorced like we should be," Selina said. "Now let's make this quick and go down to the courthouse to compel someone to make our divorce official."

"We can't go _now_," Klaus said. "Where would we put Lucy?"

"Whatever you do, don't send her to Damon's," Stefan said, coming up behind him. "I think there's something going on there."

"No there's not!" Selina said. "They're close. So what? God knows she gives him more attention then I ever did. Even though _that_ was his fault and _he_ was the one who left me for Katherine."

"But why did you leave him for Klaus?" Stefan asked her. He was grinning wickedly.

"She did it because obviously I gave her something your brother couldn't give her," Klaus said.

"And yet, your brother is now giving her the same thing instead of you," Stefan said. He turned back to Selina. "You really can't make up your mind, can you?"

"Oh, shut up!" Selina shot back. "Why are you even _here_ anyway?"

"Can't a friend visit another friend?" Stefan asked. "We were about to go hunting when you rudely showed up here without calling first."

"Well fine!" Selina snapped. "Lucy and I can leave. We wouldn't want to interrupt anything important. But we're going to go to the courthouse tomorrow and compel whomever we have to so that we're unattached by the time we're clear of the courthouse doors." She narrowed her eyes at Klaus. "You can count on it."

Klaus nodded. "I have someone waiting for me in the wings," he said. "You won't see me trying to hold you back. Not anymore. But when you find yourself getting incredibly jealous because I'm paying attention to someone else who isn't you, don't come crying to me."

"Oh, I won't," Selina said. "I'll complain to your brother and then he and I will have the best sex of our lives."

He smirked. "That sentence last longer than the best sex of Elijah's life."

Selina rolled her eyes. "For god's sake, grow up, will you?" She left the house and drove back to Elijah's, where she noticed a familar car parked in the driveway. She parked beside it and went inside, finding her mother sitting next to Elijah, chatting with him. They were both drinking tea. Her mother turned to face her when Selina entered the room. Amelia Lockwood Warren's eyes were red her face was puffy.

"What's wrong, Mama?" Selina asked. "Why have you been crying?"

"We've had a death in the family," Amelia said. "It happened yesterday. We're all still in shock."

"Who died?" Selina asked. "Tell me, who was it?"

"It was Tyler," said another voice. "They don't quite know what killed him. Some sort of sports accident. Heart attack while playing football. That's what the doctors say." Selina handed Lucy to her mother and strode across the room to embrace the other speaker. "I'm sorry, Caroline," she said. "I know this must be a difficult time for you."

Caroline sobbed on Selina's shoulder for a little while and then pulled her head up, sniffling and taking the tissue Selina offered her. "Thanks," she said and gently blew her nose before throwing the tissue away. She wore a navy blue dress that was covered in wrinkles. "We thought you'd want to know. That's why we came."

"Well I _did_ want to know, and thank you for telling me," Selina said. "I will do whatever you need me to do, help you in any way I can. You know that, right?"

Caroline nodded. "Thank you. We're going to hold the funeral tomorrow. Would you want to come and receive mourners with the rest of the family?"

Selina nodded. "Of course. I mean, I'll have to dye my hair or something so that people will be less likely to figure out that it's me, but it's been like, thirty years since I spent any real length of time in Mystic Falls, so I'm not too worried."

Caroline's gaze traveled to the little girl in Amelia's lap. "And who is _this?_" She asked, picking up Lucy.

"That's Lucy," Selina said. "She's my youngest. Well, _one_ of my youngest. Damon has the other. A boy named Sam."

"What's Damon doing with a kid?" Caroline asked, looking surprised.

"It's a long story," Selina said. "It would take awhile to explain it."

"Actually it wouldn't," Amelia said. "You got drunk, you weren't careful, and you had children with two different men."

"_One_ of them was my husband!" Selina said defensively.

"But I thought Damon couldn't!" Caroline said. She looked shocked.

"He had magic on his side," Selina said. "And inconvenient timing."

Caroline gave Lucy a hug. "Anyway, this one is incredibly loveable, isn't she?"

Selina nodded. "She _loves_ people. In contrast to my _other_ daughter who only pretends to like people in order to make them her minions."

"How in the world are you raising her?" Amelia asked. "How could you let her behave like that?"

"Oh, I don't know, Mama!" Selina snapped. "That's just how she is! She's gotten worse since Klaus and I decided that we're going to divorce. She's taking it hard."

"Well there's a simple solution to that!" Amelia said. "Don't get a divorce! It's not that difficult!"

"Well now I know why you spent all those years with Robert Pierce despite the fact that he abused us and made us miserable! Times have changed, Mother!" Selina said. "Women don't have to just sit demurely by while men run things. We can take action. If we're unhappy about something, say in my case a marriage to a man with a permanent case of arrested development, it's socially acceptable for us to be without men. No one will judge us except uptight fuddy-duddies like you!" She turned to Elijah. "You see?" She demanded, pointing at her mother. "This woman is responsible for making me a complete basket case. And a wuss and passive and so desperate to be loved and appreciated that I just...I let things go way too far."

"We should go," Amelia said. "But I assume you want us to come back and pick you up for the funeral tomorrow?"

"Sure," Selina nodded. "Why not?"

Caroline put Lucy down and they left. Selina sat down on a kitchen chair and shut her eyes. She felt emotionally drained.

"Are you going to be all right?" Elijah asked her. He put his arms around her, then they heard a whine and turned around to see Lucy pouting. She wanted to be hugged too. Elijah picked her up and managed to squeeze everyone in. When they parted, Selina said, "I think I'll go visit Sam. I haven't done that in awhile."

* * *

><p>"I thought you said you weren't going come by anymore," Damon said over the phone. "And you want to come now. Why the change of heart?"<p>

"I saw my mom," she said quietly. "She and Caroline came by because apparently Tyler had a heart attack or something and they wanted me to come to the funeral. And of course, Mama and I got in a fight. This time, it was about how I allowed Roxie to turn out and of course, Mama has to shame me for wanting to divorce Klaus. Oh, please. Like she's _so_ perfect herself."

"In that case," Damon said, "feel free to come by. I have paints. We can go to the park and-"

"No, I'm too miserable to paint, but thank you," she said. "Could we just have a cocoa and watch a movie? I'd like that. It would cheer me up immensely."

"All right," Damon said. "Sure. Come right over. And bring Lucy."

Selina grinned. "All right. I'll bring Lucy."

"And by the way, I have some of your stuff in the attic," Damon said. "Would you like to bring it back to your house with you?"

"What sort of stuff?" Selina asked.

"Just a bunch of old pictures," he said. "And some of your junk."

"I'll come and have a look," Selina said. "See you soon." She hung up, grabbed Lucy, said goodbye to Elijah and headed off to Damon's.

* * *

><p>"So where's the stuff?" Selina asked as she and Lucy followed Damon and Sam up to the attic.<p>

"In the farthest corner, if you can believe it," Damon said. "I don't know why the boxes are so dusty. They haven't even been up here that long." Selina sat in a dusty maroon armchair with Sam and Lucy on her lap while Damon pulled a trunk out and pushed the lid off. It clattered to the floor and a burst of dust went into the air, causing Lucy to sneeze and Sam to cough.

Selina stood up, put Sam and Lucy down, tiptoed toward the box and looked inside. "Oh, my god." She gently pushed some stuff aside and pulled out a black and white photo of a young man in a suit and squishy dark tie. He looked like Damon but with some differences.

"Come here and look at this, Sammy," Selina said, taking Sam in her lap. "I'll take you downstairs and tell you who this is."

While Damon and Lucy played with some of Selina's old toys, Sam and Selina looked at the picture she had found in the trunk. "This is your brother, Sammy," Selina said. "His name was Joshua. I had him right before I became a vampire. Your daddy went off to war and I stayed home. I didn't get to raise Joshua like I should have because of a lot of crazy stuff that happened, but he grew up nice, was a reporter for the newspaper, got married, and then he and his wife had four kids. They were good kids."

She paused and sighed. "He was human. He stayed human his whole life and it never bothered him. He was okay with it, and I want that for you too. I don't want you to feel like you matter less because your brother and sisters are stronger than you. But I'm not going to tell you how to live your life. You can do what you want and I'll love you however you choose to be, but right here," she held the picture closer to Sam's face and she could feel her voice breaking, "right here is evidence that you don't have to have superpowers to have a good life. Remember that, Sammy. Please."

Sam reached for the picture, but Selina held it out of his grasp and then carried it over and put it on the mantel where everyone who went in the house could see it. "Don't move this," she said when Damon and Lucy came downstairs. "I want it to stay right where it is so you and I won't forget about who's in the picture. And we should visit his grave sometime."

Damon nodded. "All right," he said quietly. "I don't have a problem with that."

Selina paused. "Actually, let's drop the kids off and go right now."

Damon looked surprised. "Really?" He asked. "Are you sure?"

Selina nodded. "I just-I have to see him."

"You mean like dig up his body?" Damon asked, eyebrow quirking.

"No!" Selina shook her head. "Of course not! It's just that thinking about him hurts. It always has and I think going to his grave will give me closure."

Damon nodded. "All right," he said. "Let's drop the kids off somewhere and then we can go."

* * *

><p>"Where is it you're going again?" Stefan asked Damon.<p>

"To see Joshua's grave," Damon said. They were talking in the kitchen, away from Selina who still seemed a bit overwrought. "I found some of her old stuff and we brought it down for her to take home with her and she found a picture of Joshua and it really made her sad."

"Well, I don't blame her," Stefan said. "He got taken away from her when he was a month old or something. She never got to see him grow up because Doctor Stensrund made her a vampire and didn't tell her where Joshua was, but even if he had, I doubt Father would have let her in the house to see him anyway."

"Well, do you want to come with us since it's your nephew we're going to see?" Damon asked.

"Sure," Stefan shrugged. "Why not?"

"We're going on a field trip," Stefan said to Anna. "I don't think you'd be too interested in coming with us."

"Oh, yeah?" Anna looked up. "Where are you going?"

"To see my nephew's grave," Stefan said. "You've never met him. He was human and died awhile ago. But you can come if you want."

"No thanks," Anna shook her head. "I think I'll stay here and watch Sam and Lucy while the three of you go."

That being said, Selina, Stefan and Damon got in Damon's car and drove to what was left of the house the three of them had lived in while they were alive.

But as they drove up to it, they heard loud yelling and laughter in the surrounding trees. They parked on the side of the dirt road and slowly proceeded into the grass, kicking beer cans aside as they got closer to the raucous.

"Joshua's grave is on the other side of this tree," Selina said, peering around a small oak tree. She gasped. There was a group of young men lapping alcohol from a tub near her son's grave, while another trio were playing a game of paintball and being careless about where they aimed. The name on Joshua's grave was almost entirely covered with green paint.

Selina's eyes narrowed, her muscles tensed, and Damon and Stefan watched as she strode purposefully into the gang of men and tapped one on the shoulder. He turned around and grinned. "Hey, sweetie," he said to her. He was wearing a backwards baseball cap, jeans with the knees ripped out and a shirt with no sleeves, although there seemed to have been some once. "What's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?"

Selina grinned slyly. "Just walking around. Mind if I join the party?"

He nodded. "Sure. You could even take the next drink if you want. We wouldn't mind." He eyed his friends, who were watching Selina with interest, because she was wearing a tight sweater and a short black skirt with panty hose and heels despite the cold.

"Thanks," Selina said. "But I wouldn't want to interrupt anything. Who's turn is it next?"

"Mine," the guy said, showing his teeth. He went to stand over the tub.

"Oh," Selina said, locking eyes with him. "You'll be so good, you won't even need to come up for air, will you? It would really impress me if you didn't."

The guy nodded. "Sure," he said. "Sure, I'll drink as much as I can without coming up for air."

Selina grinned. "You'll drink _more _than you can." She eyed the tub that was holding the beer. It was still pretty full. "In fact," she said, circling the guy, "drink the rest of the tub."

He nodded. Okay."

Looking at Selina nervously, two of the other guys picked him up, turned him over, and began cheering as he drank, but eventually, he began to squirm and struggle. His friends tried to make him stop drinking, but they couldn't. Finally, his struggling stopped and he was still. They pulled him out. His face was blue and his eyes were wide. "He's _dead_!" they said to Selina.

"Well that's what he gets for being disrespectful at a gravesite," Selina said. "Now, how shall I punish the rest of you?" She noticed that the drowned man still had a rope around his waist, which had been put there at an earlier period.

"Untie the rope," she ordered another one of the group. "And give it to me."

He brought her the rope and she tied it into a noose, then took the noose and hung it over a tree. "Come here," she told the man who'd given her the rope. He was looking terrified, but he came anyway. She put the noose around his neck and said, "stay put." Then, she took the last of the trio aside and whispered in his ear, "Hang your friend, now. Just go give the rope a little tug and he'll be dead. But don't worry. I won't make you live with the guilt. You'll be next." Gulping, the guy approached his friend. Two of the other men tried to stop him, but Selina snapped their necks and they crumpled to the ground. "Now," she said, dusting off her hands and giving each one of the bodies a swift kick in the head. "Where were we?" She paused. "Oh, yes, the hanging." She put her hand over the guys and together, the two of them pulled, his friend's neck breaking quickly as he was strung up.

Meanwhile, Damon and Stefan had retreated a safe distance away and saw everything. "What's going on, Stefan?" Damon asked. "Has Selina completely lost her mind?"

"She's actually showing remarkable restraint, considering the circumstances," Stefan said. He sounded vaguely amused and was smirking openly. "There was this one time in '25 that Anna and me and Nick and Selina decided to go to this really snazzy new restaurant in Paris, but traffic was bad and we missed the reservation, and when they wouldn't let us in, Selina got everyone in the restaurant to finish each other off so we had the place entirely to ourselves. That was a good night."

Damon sighed. He felt something like unease in the pit of his stomach as he watched Selina throw the man who'd hanged his friend to the ground and bash him over the head repeatedly with a rock until all that was left of his head and face was a bloody mess. Finally, when a majority of the men were dead, with only one or two scampering away from the gravesite after Selina had compelled them never to tell what they saw, Selina collapsed and burst into tears, futilely rubbing at the green paint on Joshua's gravestone with her fingers.

"You should probably go over there," Stefan said. "The fun seems to be over."

Damon nodded and advanced slowly into the clearing, touching Selina on the shoulder, then leaping back when she started.

"Oh," she said, sniffling as she turned around. "It's only you. I thought it was someone _else_ coming to cause trouble. Can we get out of here now?" She asked him. "I think I need a drink."

Damon nodded and pulled her up, taking her in his arms until she stopped shaking. "After seeing all that, I think I do too. We'll go somewhere, have a talk, and if it'll make you feel better, we'll even play a game where every time you say 'Joshua,' you can have a shot. Would you like that?"

Selina nodded. "Well, it would help a little. And it would be a wiser course of action than the two of us having sex. An alcohol hangover is so much easier to deal with than a guilt hangover. I mean, telling Elijah that I slept with you in a weak moment is _not_ a conversation I want to have."

They left the mens' bodies in the woods for the animals and headed to a bar in town after dropping Stefan off with Anna, Lucy and Sam.

They sat down at the bar and Selina ordered ten shots of whisky and once they were placed in front of her, Damon started talking. "So," he said, "Has thinking about Joshua always affected you this way?" He paused and grinned as she gulped down a shot and sucked in her breath, nodding. "The last time I really remember, I ended up killing Bonnie Bennett. Ripped her throat right out and lapped her blood up. Not that anything was her fault, of course. It was Emily that put Joshua's life in danger. And mine. But Emily's dead, so she can't make stuff up to me. Bonnie was a good substitute." She drank another shot.

"How did Emily put Joshua's life in danger?" Damon asked.

"Well, Emily was working with Katherine, wasn't she?" Selina asked. "So it was under Katherine's order that Emily did the spell that made the flowers infected with scarlet fever, which I then caught, and that caused me to have to go to Doctor Stensrund's and _that's _when I found out I was pregnant with Joshua." Another shot down. "So just think: If Doctor Stensrund hadn't healed me with his blood, then there probably wouldn't have been any Joshua to begin with." One more shot and Selina was beginning to get woozy.

"Can you even stand up?" Damon asked her. She tried, but fell over.

"I tell you what," the bartender told Damon, "since she seems to be very troubled, you take her home and put her to bed and I won't charge you for the shots she didn't drink I'll pass those around to other people."

Damon nodded. "Thank you." He carried Selina out of the bar and set her in the back seat. Once the car started, she promptly threw up all over the upholstry and Damon rolled his eyes. It was going to be a long ride back to Elijah's. A _long_ ride. He pulled out his phone and gave Elijah a call to make sure he'd be there when they arrived.

* * *

><p>"This will be easier now that we have your help," Mikael told Elijah. They were sitting in the living room having a talk. Aleksandr and Mary Anne had gone out for the afternoon, but would be back later.<p>

"You know that I'm ready and willing to do whatever you ask of me, Father," Elijah said.

Mikael nodded. "Good, good. What do you know of Lonely Heart?"

"Not much, I'm afraid," Elijah said. "I know of her reputation. That's all."

Mikael stood up, grabbed his file of newspaper articles and handed them to Elijah. "Each article gives a detailed analysis of the murders committed by Lonely Heart. I've even added articles about a murder of a couple that happened on a cruise ship, even though it was fairly recently and doesn't match Lonely Heart's previous methods of killing. It's close enough."

Elijah felt himself go cold. "Are you saying that you think Lonely Heart killed the couple on the cruise ship?"

"It could be," Mikael said. "Or it could just be a coincidence. But it warrants our attention because like I said, it's close enough to the sort of thing Lonely Heart would do."

Elijah put the folder on the cushion beside him and said, "It couldn't have been Lonely Heart. From what I remember, she was a very enthusiastic killer. There haven't been any more murders since the ones on the ship, have there?"

Mikael shook his head. "No. That's why I suspect a copy cat, but I'm still on my guard just in case, and you should be too. Read those clippings so you're aware of what we're up against and then after you're familar with everything Lonely Heart has done, we'll figure out what we're going to do next."

Elijah nodded. "Yes, Father." He stood up and took the folder, going out of the house as Aleksandr and Mary Anne were coming in. "You said you'd tell me why you have a picture of Sera," she said. "Go on and tell me."

"She and I were married for a short period, Mary Anne," Aleksandr said. "That's all. Things were difficult sometimes because she was depressed and she drank a lot, but sometimes they were good."

Mary Anne nodded. "That sounds like Sera. I'd believe it." Elijah paused outside the door, listening to this statement. Then, his phone rang and he got in his car before he answered it. "Hello?"

"It's Damon," Damon said. "I have Selina here with me. She had an upset and drank a little too much, so can you come home?"

"Of course," Elijah said. "I'll be there as quickly as I can."

"So what happened?" Elijah asked Damon after they'd tucked Selina into bed. "What set her off?"

Damon sighed. "We were moving some of her old stuff out of my house and when she was looking through it, she found a picture of our first kid, one that she had right before we turned. She never got to raise him and it's always been a very tough thing for her to deal with."

Elijah moved some hair out of Selina's face and then turned back to Damon. "I had no idea," he said. "She never mentioned that to me, but if it's a sore subject, then it's no wonder she never said anything." He looked at Selina again. "I just hope she has a better day tomorrow."

* * *

><p>The next day, she had something to smile about, however, as Klaus arrived one morning with Agnes in tow, and announced that he'd taken care of things and he and Selina were now divorced.<p>

"Did you tell Roxie yet?" Selina asked. "How did _she _take the news? Not well, I bet."

Klaus shook his head. "I actually haven't told her. I was hoping you'd do that."

"Why me?" Selina asked. "You're the one who gets along with her. Me she only tolerates."

"Well you have such a warm and loving air about you," Klaus said.

Selina shook her head. "Oh, no," she told him. "You aren't going to get off that easily. We're going to tell her together. I don't care if you're scared of getting yelled at. This is an issue for both of us and we're both going to deal with it." She paused. "But it can't be right now. I have to go to a funeral and we have to leave like, right _now_."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Fine. I guess it can wait."

Just then, Caroline came in from the garage. "Are you ready to go, Selina?" She asked. Then she noticed Klaus and Agnes. "I'm sorry," she said. "Am I interrupting something? Because we can wait a few minutes."

"No," Selina said when she saw Klaus trying to catch Caroline's eye. "We can go now, really. It's no trouble."

"Wait just a minute," Klaus said. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

Selina shook her head. "No," she said simply, and then herded Caroline out the door and into her car where Amelia was already waiting for them.

As Klaus stared after them, he turned back to Agnes. "We have to go back to your apartment," he said, "And have a chat with Roxie."

"Who was that guy?" Caroline asked. "I mean, how do you know him?"

"Well, now he's my ex-husband," Selina said, ignoring Amelia's glare from the backseat. "He's the father of the little girl that you met _and_ two of my other kids."

"What are your other kids like?" Caroline asked as she made a turn.

"Well," Selina sighed. "Our son looks like Nicky, but acts like me, and our daughter Roxanne looks like me but acts like him."

"Ah, Roxie the spoiled brat." Caroline nodded knowingly. "Jake came to visit several years ago and told Tyler and me some very unflattering things about a girl named Roxie."

"So you don't want to meet her?" Selina asked. "Good instincts."

"Wha about Adrian?" Caroline asked. "Is he okay?"

Selina nodded. "Well, yeah. He's great. Married now, to a woman named Helene. I like her."

"Four out of five isn't bad," Caroline said.

"It's not that I don't like Roxie completely," Selina said. "I mean there's a part of me that grudgingly admires her for her kick-ass, take-no-prisoners manner, but I'd never tell her that."

"Maybe you should," Caroline said. "It might help. She might only act crazy 'cause she wants your attention. Or your ex-husband's."

Selina looked thoughtful. "That could be. If it's Nicky's attention she wants, it'll be hard for her to get. The only person he really pays attention to is himself."

"And me, apparently," Caroline said. His glances hadn't escaped her.

"Please tell me that you don't feel flattered."

"Of course not!" Caroline said. "My husband just _died_! What kind of a person do you take me for?"

"Good!" Selina nodded. "I just wanted to be sure you weren't entertaining any ideas about him."

"I thought he was your ex," Caroline told her. "That's what you said."

"He _is_ my ex," Selina said. "And it should stay that way. He's juvenile, self-absorbed and treated me like an object. Not even the best body in the world can make up for that."

"If you hate him so much, then why were you with him in the first place?" Amelia asked.

"I could ask you the same thing about Robert Pierce, Mama," Selina said. Amelia lapsed into silence in the backseat and nobody talked again until they reached the funeral home.

* * *

><p>"What do <em>you<em> want?" Roxie asked when she saw her father and Agnes on the other side of the apartment door. She opened her eyes in surprise as Klaus shoved Agnes into her arms. "Here, take her," he said. "She's yours and I was wrong to try and steal her away."

"Well, good," Roxie said. She paused and narrowed her eyes. "Wait a minute. What's going on? Did you find a better toy? What's she like? And what about Mom?"

"She's a friend of your mother's," Klaus said. "I believe her name is Caroline. They went to a funeral for one of your mother's cousins, who just happened to be Caroline's husband. And your mother and I are officially divorced now, so my going after Caroline is okay."

"Grieving widow," Roxie rolled her eyes. "So typical of you, Daddy. Do you even know where the funeral is?"

"It's back in Mystic Falls," Klaus said. "There can't be too many funeral parlors there, can there?"

* * *

><p>"Oh, my god," Selina said as they exited the funeral home after Tyler's memorial service. "Look who's here."<p>

"Did he _follow _us?" Caroline asked, following Selina's gaze and seeing Klaus leaning against his car and grinning at them.

"What are you doing here?" Selina asked under her breath when they reached him.

Klaus handed Caroline some flowers. "I'm just here to offer my condolences to the bereaved," he said. "She's a member of your family after all, and even though you and I are divorced. I hope I can still consider your family my family."

Selina shook her head. "Not really. What are you up to?"

"I'm not up to anything," Klaus said. "I'm trying out a new sort of lifestyle, you know, being altruistic and selfless and stuff like that. I figure it could give my life more meaning." He grinned at Caroline and she didn't smile back.

"Oh, yeah?" Selina asked as she and Caroline turned away. "Well I'll believe that when I see it."

* * *

><p>When summer finally came, it was a breath of fresh air for everyone. Selina's episode about Joshua had made her realize that she needed to spend more time with Sam. He had begun coming over for the afternoon a few times a week, and he and Lucy were beginning to get used to one another and even got along occasionally. One day, they were splashing around in the kiddie pool in the driveway at Elijah's while Selina, in jean shorts and a purple one piece bathing suit, supervised them. Suddenly, Sam turned, something in the grass at the side of the house catching his eye. He immediately stopped splashing Lucy and kept watching it, tracking it across the grass. Then, he got out of the pool and took off running for the backyard. "Sammy, came back!" Selina said, running after him.<p>

When Sam came running back, he was brandishing a small frog which he waved in his mother's face. Selina picked him up and begged him to throw the frog away. "It's yucky," she said. "You have to get rid of the frog. Let it go!"

"Okay," he said, and grinning, dropped the frog down her bathing suit. She let out a shriek and did the best she could not to drop Sam in the pool next to Lucy. Then she hauled them both up and led them into the house before sprinting in the direction of the library. She opened the door and said breathlessly, "I'm having a problem!"

Elijah looked up and surveyed her for a moment, how she squirmed uncomfortably and winced. "The bathroom is down that way if you need to use it," he said. pointing out the library door and to the left.

"No!" She cried. "I don't need the bathroom! I-" She shrieked again and only then did Elijah see the shape moving under her suit.

"There seems to be something in your suit," he said, smirking. "Did you notice?"

She looked incredulous. "Of course I noticed! It's a frog. Sam dropped it in my suit, which wouldn't have happened if you'd have let me wear a bikini like I wanted instead of this stupid one piece!"

"Well it's a matter of dignity, isn't it?" Elijah said, getting out of the desk chair and coming toward her. "You should think more of yourself then to just show off your body to every person who comes walking by."

"There's nothing dignified about squirming around like a crazy person because a toddler drops a frog down your suit." Selina snapped. "Now stop lecturing me and help me get it out. And quick! It's beginning to get uncomfortable!"

Elijah put his hands on her shoulders to stop her from squirming as he dipped his fingers into her suit. "And just what do I get in return for rescuing you from this horrible frog?" he asked.

"Whatever you want," she said. As his hand went down further, she said, "But it seems like you've started collecting your reward already."

It took Elijah a long time to get a good grip on the frog because he kept pausing to stroke her stomach and breasts and it felt good enough that Selina almost forget the real reason he had his hand down her suit in the first place. When he finally got a good grip on the frog, he slowly brought it up and out of her suit.

"Here it is," he said, show it to her. "It's just a small one. What's so bad about that?"

"How about I put him down your pants and you can see?" Selina asked. She opened the window and he threw the frog out. "It's not pleasant having an animal like that touching your bare skin," Selina said to him, backing him up against the wall. "And if it happened to you, if somehow you_ did_ end up with an animal down your pants, would you like me to show you how I would help you?"

He nodded.

"I'd start with your shirt," she said. She unbuttoned his shirt and threw it near the dresser, then turned back to him. "I'd have to start with your shirt because once I got it off of you, then I'd have better access to your pants, the buttons, zipper, all that." She deftly unbuttoned and unzipped him and when his manhood burst free of his pants, she got down on her knees and began sucking on it.

He breathed deeply, closing his eyes and running his fingers through her hair. After awhile, Elijah breathed. "We should get in bed now," he said. "I want to get in bed now." She stopped sucking on him for a moment, then they got in bed and she continued, her long hair brushing his chest. "Do you feel sufficiently rewarded?" She asked him after he came.

"Almost," he said, moving her so that she was underneath him. "Are the children well-occupied?"

Selina nodded. "Yeah, I left them with Alistair."

"All right," Elijah said. Then he peeled off her suit and began leisurely sucking on _her_, then blazed a trail of kisses down her stomach before thrusting into her until she screamed. When they were separated and resting, Elijah turned to her and said, "Aleksandr made a new friend, a girl named Mary Anne. She's a vampire, I think, and she knows you. Do you remember ever meeting a young girl named Mary Anne?"


	8. Not Just A River

Selina looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember a girl named Mary Anne?" Elijah said. "Did you know her, or was Aleksandr incorrect?"

Selina was silent for a moment, then sighed. "I_ did _know a Mary Anne, but it was during my dark period and I was horrible to her. The Mary Anne years aren't something I like to think about."

"Well, she's around," Elijah said. "I can take you to see her if you want so you can tell her you're sorry."

Selina immediately shook her head. "No, no! Whatever you do, don't do that! At least not now. I'll do it later, on my own time, I promise."

"All right," Elijah said. Then he looked at her curiously. "What do you mean by your 'dark period'?"

Selina sucked in a breath. "Remember when we were on the boat and you saw me kill those people? There was a time when I did that _a lot_. It was when Nicky and I were together in the twenties and just a phase, I swear. Aleksandr had left me and I spent almost fifty years without a real, long-term relationship. The only real contact I had with other people was when my son brought his wife and kids over to my house to visit 'Grandma'. I mean, for god's sake, wouldn't _you_ want to kill people too, if that's the image you had for yourself for half a century? I mean, it's bad enough that one man thought me undesirable, but so did all the other men of marrying age that were around me when they found out I had grandkids when I looked eighteen! They avoided me like the plague! They thought I was crazy! They-"

"All right, all right," Elijah put a hand up. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I don't want to upset you."

Selina took a deep breath and nodded. "Thank you," she said. "I think I'll go get dressed now and take Sam back home." She gave him a quick peck on the lips, got out of bed and dressed, then left the room to go look for Alistair.

"Hello," Alistair looked at Selina in surprise. "How are you feeling? The frog is gone, I see."

Selina grinned. "Yes, the frog is gone and I'm much better, thank you. I just came to see if you wanted me to take Sam off your hands."

Alistair shrugged. "I suppose, if you want to. But he seems to be having a good time." They saw Sam with his hands on a toy piano keyboard with different-colored keys. He was pounding away on it, making as much noise as possible.

"What are you playing, Sammy?" Selina asked, sitting down next to him. "Will you play me something?"

Sam stopped playing for a moment and gave his mother a grin, then climbed into her lap and resumed pounding on the keys. "Very good!" Selina said, hugging him after he was finished. Then she looked up and saw Lucy toddling toward her, attempting to keep her grip on a picture book that was almost too big for her.

"Come here," Selina said. "Let me help you, Lucy-loo." Still holding onto Sam, Selina stood up and made her way toward Lucy, gently removing the book from her grasp. Lucy let out a howl and reached for it again.

"I'll give it back," Selina said. "I just don't want you to get hurt carrying it." She put it on a tiny rocking chair in the corner of the room, an old one made of wood and covered with white fabric with blue flowers. "Try sitting here," Selina told her. "This'll be a comfy reading spot for you."

Lucy gave the chair a discerning glance and after a few moments, decided it was acceptable. She placed the book on the floor, sat down, and then picked it up again and put it in her lap. She was "reading" contentedly while Selina played with Sam. Suddenly, Selina gasped.

"What?" Alistair asked. "Selina, what's the matter?"

"Look at him!" Selina said, looking worried. "He's covered in red spots!" She held Sam up for Alistair's inspection. Sam was beginning to squirm uncomfortably.

"Chicken pox," Selina and Alistair said at the same time. Selina sighed. "I better take him back to Damon's, so that everybody knows what's going on, and see if Damon needs my help. A sick kid can be tricky, especially if you have no idea what the hell you're doing."

"What can I do?" Alistair asked her.

"You stay here with Lucy," Selina said.

"All right," Alistair nodded.

Selina carried Sam back to her and Elijah's bedroom, opening the door just as Elijah was finishing tying up his tie. "My god," he said. "What's wrong with Sam?"

Selina sighed. "Looks like chicken pox. I'm going to take him to Damon's and then see if Damon needs my help. If he does, I might have to stay over at Damon's house for a few days. Is that all right with you?"

Elijah looked as if he were going to object, but then his expression changed. "Yes," he said. "I trust you. Do whatever you need to do to help Sam get through this."

Selina nodded. "Thank you for understanding," she said. She hugged Sam to her and hustled out of the bedroom. As Elijah looked after her, he wondered about the story she'd told him earlier, how she could ever have been mean enough to little Mary Anne to want to block the period out of her memory. Once he heard the front door close, he left the bedroom and called for Alistair.

"What is it?" Alistair asked.

"I need to go over to Niklaus' house," Elijah said. "I have to ask him about something to do with Selina, something that happened a long time ago."

"Well, I was around then too," Alistair said. "I could probably tell you whatever it is you want to know just as easily as Klaus could."

"Well, all right," Elijah nodded. "What can you tell me about a girl named Mary Anne? Selina told me that Mary Anne was around during what she called her 'dark period.' What do you know about that?"

"Oh, god," Alistair paled. "Mary Anne. She was an ordeal. I'll say that. There's not much more _to _say." Alistair looked away and then looked back. "Maybe we should go to Klaus'. He's the only one blunt enough to tell you the whole story, which I _do_ think you need to know. But be prepared to hear things about Selina that don't put her in the most flattering light."

"Oh, I'm sure you're exaggerating," Elijah said. "Where's Lucy? We can't just leave her here."

Alistair smirked. "Reading in the playroom. But good luck getting her to stop. Selina found her a comfy little chair to sit in and she's acting like it's a throne. She won't leave it easily."

Elijah followed Alistair to the playroom and saw Lucy sitting in the rocking chair. He got down on the floor next to her and said, "Want to come with us? We're going on a trip."

Lucy looked up at him for a moment and shook her head. "No."

Elijah tried again. "We're going to see your father. Won't that be fun?"

Lucy shook her head again. "No. Book."

"Let me try," Alistair said. "You'll get to see your teddy bear, Lucy. Don't you like your teddy bear?"

Lucy paused and looked up at him. "Teddy. I want Teddy."

"Well, all right then," Alistair said. Lucy put her book down and lifted up her arms for him to pick her up. Then the three of them left the house and headed for Klaus' so Elijah could learn about Mary Anne.

* * *

><p>"All right, Sammy," Selina walked up the front steps to Damon's house and stuck her key in the front door, giving it a turn and pushing the door open. "Let's get you in bed and slather some lotion on you. It'll make you not so itchy." She lay him in his bed and slathered him with itch-fighting lotion that she'd picked up at the store on the way and then went to look for Damon.<p>

"In here," he called when she passed a bathroom.

"Is it all right for me to come in?" She called back. "Or are you busy? I mean, not that that matters in this case, because I _really_ need to talk to you about Sam and I want to give you time to cover up if you need it."

"Oh, who cares about that?" Damon asked. "What have I got that you haven't seen? I mean _really?_"

Selina rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said. "Just be that way." She opened the bathroom door and strode in. Damon was in the bathtub, sitting with an empty space next to him as though he wasn't entirely alone in the bath.

"Who's bathing with you?" Selina asked. "Somebody nice?"

Damon nodded. "Yeah, Wendy. She still kind of thinks you're crazy, by the way. So, what brings you over here?"

"Sam," Selina said, sitting on the toilet. "He has the chicken pox. I slathered him with lotion to stem the itching, but I doubt that'll last, and he'll probably have a fever soon. Geez, I never had to go through this with any of my other kids."

Damon smirked. "Yeah, with all your other kids, it was fleas, ticks and heartworm, wasn't it?"

"Ha ha," Selina said and got off the toilet and splashed him. Damon grabbed her wrist. "Don't start that unless you want me to pull you in here with me," he said. "And don't think I won't."

"I don't think you will," she said. "What would Wendy say?"

Just then the bathroom door opened. "What would Wendy say about what?" Wendy said as she stepped further into the bathroom. "What's going on in here?" She wore a bathrobe and a quizzical expression.

Damon let go of Selina's wrist and turned to face Wendy. "Selina just brought Sam back," he said. "Sam has the chicken pox."

"Oh." Wendy looked guilty. "Allison just got over hers, so I can give you three guesses where Sam picked it up from."

Selina shrugged. "It had to happen sometime. And I hear it gets worse if you get it when you're older, so I guess now is as good a time as any for him to catch it if he has to." She got off the toilet, looking at Damon. "So do you want me to come over and help you sometimes? I can, if you don't think you can handle a sick kid all by yourself."

"Well, thanks," Damon told her. "If I need your help, I'll give you a call." Selina nodded. "I put his anti-itch lotion on his dresser and you might want to clip his nails so it'll be harder for him to scratch at his rash."

"Relax," Wendy said. "We can take care of it. You just go about your business and don't worry."

"Thank you, Wendy," Selina nodded. "That's very comforting to know." She left the house, feeling something like dislike for Wendy roiling around in her stomach.

* * *

><p>"Well this is a surprise," Klaus said when he opened the door and saw Alistair, Lucy and Elijah on the other side. "What brings the three of you here?"<p>

"Daddy!" Lucy said, reaching out for Klaus. "Where's Teddy?"

"Roxie doesn't have it, does she?" Alistair asked. "It's the only way we could get Lucy away from her book and we couldn't leave her at the house by herself."

Klaus shook his head. "I have it. I'll go get it." He got Lucy her bear and when they were all settled on sofas in the living room, Klaus held Lucy to himself and asked, "So why is it that you're here? The real reason?"

"I want to know about Mary Anne," Elijah said. "Who is she? What went on between her and Selina?"

"Why would you want to know?" Klaus asked. "How did that come up?"

"Aleksandr's met her," Elijah said. "I went to visit him and found him talking to a girl he called Mary Anne. She asked about a woman named Sera and Aleksandr said that Sera was someone he was married to, and as fair as I know, the only person Aleksandr's ever been married to was Selina and she told me that they didn't get along, so what happened?"

"I can't believe you asked Selina about Mary Anne," Klaus said. "It's a sore point for her."

"Yes, she mentioned that," Elijah nodded. "Could you tell me anything else?"

"Well, Selina didn't want Mary Anne to come and live with us," Klaus said. "She told me that she'd come to Europe to have fun and didn't want to waste time looking after a child, so-" He paused. "Wait. Did you tell me you _saw_ Mary Anne? Where _is_ she?"

"Focus, please, Niklaus," Elijah told him. "This is important!"

"Okay, okay," Klaus said. "From the first minute we brought Mary Anne home, she and Selina had issues..."

_"Here's where you'll sleep," Selina dropped blankets on a mattress in the attic, and gave the little dark eyed girl a glare. "And there's a candle for if you have to go to the bathroom. Don't drop it though. I know how clumsy you are."_

_"All right," Mary Anne said quietly. Selina nodded, then closed the curtains of the solitary attic window and went downstairs. "She's all settled in," she told Klaus when she found him. "What do you want to do now?"_

_"Where did you put her?" Klaus asked. "I want to go tell her goodnight."_

_"She's up in the attic," Selina said. "That's not much of a problem, is it? It'll mean fewer interruptions from the runt."_

_Klaus gave her a scathing look and then headed upstairs._

_"That wasn't very nice, you know," Alistair chided Selina. "And I would think that based on your own past with Robert Pierce, you'd be the _last_ person to treat someone the way you're treating Mary Anne. You were in her place once. You know what that's like."_

_"And if she were actually my child, that would be different," Selina said. "But she's not. She should be lucky that she even has a roof over her head! The orphanages aren't so kind to the children that get brought inside their walls. They aren't very nice places to live, Alistair."_

_"And how is this better?" Alistair asked, following her to the kitchen. "You can't act like this forever. I won't let you."_

_"How will you stop me?" Selina asked._

_"I didn't want to have to do this," Alistair said. "But I'm afraid you've forced my hand." Using his magic, he caused Selina to have such a terrible pain in her head that she collapsed into a chair and begged him to stop._

_"Now," Alistair said, "Give her a better room, the one next to you and Klaus'. And apologize to her. I'm going to come with you to see that you do."_

_Selina glared at him and as they made their way toward the attic, they met Klaus coming down with Mary Anne. "I'm moving Mary Anne into the room next to ours," he told Selina. "I'm sure your putting her in the attic was only an oversight, wasn't?"_

_"Yes," Selina rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said to Mary Anne._

_"You don't mean that," Mary Anne said. "Say it like you mean it."_

_Selina looked as if she wanted to deliver a scathing retort, but didn't. Instead, she raised her hand and gave Mary Anne a good, hard slap before striding away from the three of them, muttering curse words under her breath._

"She hurt a _child_?" Elijah asked. "I don't believe that. You're lying!"

"No, I'm not!" Klaus said insistently. "Am I lying, Alistair?"

"Unfortunately no," Alistair said. "And that was just the beginning." He looked at Elijah apologetically. "I warned you before we came that you'd hear things about Selina that would put her in a bad light."

"Well, I don't want to hear anymore," Elijah said. "I don't want to hear any more of your lies. You two keep Lucy. I need to have some time alone to gather my thoughts." He strode from the house and Klaus turned to Alistair. "So do you want to move back here?" He asked. "I don't think you'll be a welcome guest at Elijah's much longer."

"That might be best," Alistair nodded. "I'll move my things back into my old room tonight."

* * *

><p>"Mom?" Roxie opened the penthouse door. "What are you doing here?"<p>

"We have to talk," Selina strode inside. "I need your advice."

"You want my _advice_?" Roxie asked, an eyebrow going up. "What for?"

Selina sighed and sat down on the sofa. "Well, let's say I did something really bad a long time ago, but I haven't told your uncle about it. I think I should though, cause he is a big fan of honesty in relationships, and I think that _includes_ the bad stuff. So, how do you break the news to Vince when you do bad things?"

Roxie shrugged. "I just tell him the truth. He's know me long enough to know that I will occasionally do bad things and there's nothing he can do about it. Doesn't Uncle Elijah feel the same way about you?"

Selina scoffed. "No. In his eyes, I have this little halo and wings and I can never do anything wrong."

"So tell him everything," Roxie said. "Don't hold anything back. Heck, even add in some bad stuff that you _didn't_ do, just to see how much he'll swallow."

"Oh, that's ridiculous," Selina said. "I can't do that!"

"Well, you _did_ ask my advice," Roxie said. "But on a more serious note, just unburden yourself, be totally honest, and if he doesn't believe it, then that's _his_ problem, not yours, isn't it?"

"You know, you're right," Selina said. "I never thought of it that way."

Roxie grinned. "That's what I'm here for. Now for my question: How do you feel about Dad being interested in your friend Caroline? Are you jealous?"

"She dated _my_ father years ago when she was still human and in school, and I think if I can deal with that, I can deal with her and your father." Selina said. "In fact, I think she might be good for him." Seeing the look on Roxie's face, Selina said, "I know seeing your parents with other people is hard, but it's just something that you're going to have to deal with, _okay_?"

"Fine," Roxie said. "I won't hurt her, I promise."

* * *

><p>"Fancy meeting you here," Caroline looked up from the bench she was sitting in at the park when she heard the voice. "Hello," she said. She moved down the bench a little when she saw that it was Klaus and Lucy. "You can have a seat if you want."<p>

"Thank you," he said, giving her a grin. He let Lucy run off and play with a group of kids, and then turned back to Caroline. "I have to say that I really _am_ sorry for your loss," he said. "Losing someone you love can't be easy."

Caroline shook her head, avoiding Klaus' eyes. "It's hard, but I'm dealing."

"Why won't you look at me?" Klaus asked. "Did Selina tell you not to? Did she say I was dangerous? Or evil?"

Caroline shook her head. "She said that you could be a bit much sometimes. That's all she said. But I'm really not feeling like I want to date anyone right now. Tyler just died. It's too soon."

"I can wait," he said. "I _will_ wait. But even if you just need someone to talk to, I'll be happy to listen."

Caroline looked at his handsome face and then at his daughter who was running around after some ducks. She seemed to like him, so he couldn't be _all_ bad.

Just then, Lucy let out a shriek as a bigger boy snatched her bear away, threw it on the ground and stomped it into the dirt. Then he spat on it, causing Lucy to burst into tears.

Klaus watched this exchange with narrowed eyes. "Excuse me," he said to Caroline. He strode over to the two kids and pulled Lucy away, handing her her bear, then taking her back to the bench and sitting her in Caroline's lap. "Take her back to your car, please," he said to her. "I have some business to attend to."

Caroline looked at him uncertainly for a moment, then took Lucy back to her car. Once they were gone, Klaus the boy up by his collar and brought him up to the highest point on the jungle gym and threw him off it. He landed in the sidewalk, his neck broken. Or at least that's what it seemed like. But just to be absolutely sure he was dead, Klaus put his foot on the boy's throat and stomped on his larynx, then spat on the boy's face, before burying him up to his neck in the sand under the jungle gym and compelling the other three kids who were climbing on it not to say a word about it to their parents.

"How are things here?" Klaus said to Caroline. "Is Lucy okay?"

Caroline shook her head. "Still really upset. What do you think we should do?"

Klaus grinned. "Did you just say 'we'?"

"Well, I'm involved now," Caroline said. "I saw Lucy's bear get stomped into the dirt by that kid and I can't just walk away, now can I?" She paused. "But this is _not _a date or anything like that. We're just two people trying to help a little girl feel better."

"Oh, exactly," Klaus nodded. "And as far as that is concerned, do you have any suggestions?"

Caroline thought a moment. "Well, there's a make-your-teddy-bear place at the mall. That might cheer her up. At least until we can get this other bear washed."

"There you go saying 'we' again," Klaus said, climbing into the car beside her. "I could get used to that."

* * *

><p>"This is certainly colorful, isn't it?" Klaus asked as he and Lucy followed Caroline into the make-your-own-teddy-bear store.<p>

"It is, isn't it?" Caroline said. "The types of bears are on this wall over here." She led Klaus over to a wall containing several types of bears. "What about this ballerina?" She asked, showing it to Lucy.

Lucy shook her head and pointed to one that was wearing pants, a shirt, vest and glasses. Caroline got it off the shelf and went to stuff it.

"How do you know about this place?" Klaus asked her.

"Oh, there's a neighbor girl we have that's obsessed with this place," Caroline said. "She wants me to bring her here all the time." Caroline finished stuffing the bear and got it closed up and paid for.

"What do we say to Caroline, Little Bit?" Klaus asked Lucy. Lucy looked shyly at Caroline, her eyes still shiny with unshed tears. "Thank you," she said quietly.

Caroline smiled. "You're welcome, sweetie."

* * *

><p>Elijah was looking over the things in the folder his father had given him when he heard the office door open.<p>

"Hello, friend," Selina said, and came to sit on his desk, just giving him enough time to move the folder away. "Whatcha lookin' at?" She saw the folder and grinned. "Are those more stories about me?" She asked. "You _know_ you don't have to write those anymore," she said. "If you want a little attention, just say so." She came around and began kissing his neck.

"I can't do this now," he said apologetically. "I'm busy. Maybe later."

"You _bet _we'll be doing something later," she said. She started to walk away and then he sighed and shut the folder. "Just a minute," he said. She turned. "What is it?"

He strode toward her and backed her up against the wall, kissing her deeply. His hands went down her back and over her bottom while hers were tangled in his hair. Then he pulled off her shirt and ran his hands over her breasts. As he kissed under her jaw, she felt the hardness of his length against her thigh.

"Seems like you should take a break from work," she said. "I'll wait in the bedroom for you."

"No," reluctantly, he held her at arms' length and tried to calm himself down. "Can you leave now?" He asked. "Please? I have to look over everything in that folder and I can't be distracted."

Selina sighed. "Okay." As she left his office, she heard the doorbell ring. She went to open it and saw Klaus, Caroline and Lucy on the other side. "What's going on?" She asked after inviting them to come in.

"There was an incident at the park today," Klaus said, holding up Lucy's limp, dirty bear. "A miscreant did it, but I took care of him. Can you fix it?"

"Sure," Selina took it. "I'll see what I can do."

Caroline followed Selina to the laundry room. "We weren't on a date or anything," she said quickly. "Lucy was upset after her bear got wrecked and we were making her feel better."

Selina put a hand on Caroline's shoulder. "You don't have to explain anything to me, Caroline. Nicky and I are done. If you want to be around him, that's your choice. I won't stop you. You have my blessing."

"Okay," she said. "I just wanted to be sure. He said there's a restaurant around here that has a bunch of pretty art in it that he'd like to show me, so we're going to take Lucy and go."

Selina nodded. "Sounds fun. You three have a good time."

Once Caroline was gone, Selina threw Lucy's bear in the wash, but when it was dry, she went to pull it out and a loose thread in the bear's neck got caught, so when she got the bear out of the dryer, it was headless. Selina let out a terrific shriek and threw the bear into the sink on the opposite side of the laundry room. Then she took a deep breath, stared at it, and then for some reason, thoughts of Wendy taking care of Sam swam in her mind. She picked up the headless bear and with a growl ripped off its arms and legs too. Stuffing flew everywhere. Then, she heard a gasp. She turned around, holding the bear's torso in one hand. Elijah was standing just outside the laundry room with his hand on the doorframe.

"How much did you see?" She asked him.

"The whole thing," he said quietly.


	9. Becoming Resistant

Selina slammed the bear's torso down on the laundry room floor. "I shouldn't have left," she said. "Sammy's sick with chicken pox and I left him just because _Wendy_ was there and she told me everything would be all right. But what the hell does she know, and where does she get off hijacking my kid like that?"

"I'm sure she didn't mean it like that," Elijah said. "I'm sure she meant to be helpful, to give you a break."

Selina glared at him. "I don't _need_ a break, all right? I _need_ to raise _my_ son without help from anybody else. Especially not stupid, _human_ Wendy!"

"Have you been drinking Niklaus' blood again?" Elijah asked her. "You're not acting like yourself."

"Are you saying I don't have the right to be angry about stuff?" Selina asked, pushing a strand of black hair out of her eyes. "Are you saying that I have to be sweet and good and motherly all the time so you can maintain that fiction you have in your head of me as some precious, innocent angel in distress whose problems only you can fix?" She shook her head. "Clip my wings and toss out my halo because this is _my _problem and I'm going to handle it myself!"

"Now wait just a minute," Elijah said. "I won't have you just stomp out of here and get Sam when you're not well."

She struggled to free herself from his grip. "Let me go!" she growled. "This is none of your business!"

"Of course it is!" Elijah said. "If you're going to do something that will end up getting you or someone else hurt. Stay here until you've calmed down. Don't do something that you'll regret later just because you're angry now."

"Why would I regret bringing Sam back here so I can take care of him until he gets better?" Selina asked.

"Well, I was more referring to Wendy, whoever she is," Elijah said. "I have a feeling that you might harm her."

Selina shrugged. "Only if she gets in my way. If she doesn't, she'll be fine. Now, please just let me _go_."

He let go of her and she rubbed her shoulder and looked at him reproachfully. "Thank you," she said.

"You stay right there," Elijah said. "I have to go make a phone call, and once I get back then we'll go."

"Who says I want _you_ to come with me?" Selina asked. "I'm perfectly capable of going by myself."

"I realize that, but the only way you're going is if I or someone else come with you. No arguments."

"I hate you!" Selina called after him as Elijah disappeared into the kitchen and dialed Stefan and Anna's number.

* * *

><p>"What's going on here?" Stefan asked when he arrived a few minutes later to find Elijah and Selina standing on the kitchen. Selina had her arms crossed and was wearing a sour expression. "Anna and I were in the middle of something."<p>

"Nothing that you can't delay for a few hours," Elijah said. "This is more important than whatever it is you have in mind."

"Well, what is it, then?" Stefan asked.

"It's nothing," Selina said quickly. "Sorry Elijah made you come down here for no reason, Stefan."

Stefan grinned. "You're in a mood. What's going on?"

Selina shook her head. "It's not anything. Sam has the chicken pox and I want to bring him back here so I can take care of him, but Elijah doesn't trust me to do it on my own. Says I'm 'not well'. But really, he has _no_ reason to think that."

"I do," Elijah said. "Wendy. We can't have you hurting humans. We can't afford that."

Stefan nodded. "Oh, so you _have_ met Wendy. She's a real peach, isn't she? What did she do to piss you off?"

Selina frowned. "She insinuated that I wasn't capable of taking care of my own son." Her lip curled. "I don't see how _she_ could do any better. But she was all 'oh, that's okay. My stupid daughter Allison just _had_ the chicken pox, so I can take care of Sam and you can go on your merry way'."

"You're taking liberties with her speech, I assume," Elijah said. "I doubt she would call her own daughter 'stupid'."

"That's not the point!" Selina snapped. "Why doesn't anyone think that I'm capable of taking care of my own kids? Why is it that whenever I have a kid with Damon, somebody else gets to watch them and I don't?"

Stefan nodded knowingly. "I thought this had something to do with Joshua. I was there when you flipped out at his grave, remember?"

"Well, can you blame me?" Selina asked. "Did you see what those kids were _doing_?"

"What _were_ they doing?" Elijah asked.

"They were defacing his grave," Selina said. "I killed them all. Well, I let two go, but I wiped their memories. And I killed the rest."

Elijah's eyes widened. "See? This is exactly why I don't want you going to see Wendy alone."

"Well I'm not because Stefan's here. So can we go now?" Selina asked.

Elijah nodded and the three of them headed back to Damon's.

* * *

><p>"Back so soon?" Wendy asked when she opened the door and saw Selina. "I told you I'd be more than happy to take care of Sam so you wouldn't have to."<p>

Elijah placed a hand on Selina's shoulder and whispered in her ear. "Stay calm, please," he said. "Be polite. If you make her mad, she could make sure you never see Sam again."

Selina's smile was painful, but she grinned and locked eyes with Wendy. "I know you told me that, and I appreciate it, but I really think I'd like to take care of Sam, if you don't mind."

"Well, I do, actually," Wendy said. "You don't seem stable to me. And I don't want Sam to go and be in a place where he'll be hurt."

"Oh, she'd never hurt Sam," Stefan said. "She's his mother and she loves him. But if you don't let her in and give her her kid, _you'll_ be in a place where you'll be hurt. Now let us in."

Eyes widening, Wendy opened the door and Selina, Stefan and Elijah went into the house.

"That was underhanded," Elijah said to Stefan. "And something Anna will be more than pleased to hear about, although she _won't _be happy that she wasn't here to witness it."

"Damon!" Wendy called. "Selina's here. She wants to take Sam back!"

"Do you really?" Damon asked when he appeared a few minutes later. "Selina, I don't know if it would be a good idea to move him. He's got a fever now and he's fussing a lot. Why don't you just stay here?"

"All right," Selina nodded. "I'll stay here."

Damon looked at Elijah. "Is that all right with you?"

He nodded. "I already told her it was."

Selina swallowed. "I'll just go pack a few things. And I have to run some errands. But I should be back by tonight."

* * *

><p>"Have you tried to do any magic since you came back?" Adrian asked Helene. "Serious magic, I mean. I know you did that spell that made those star stickers become all 3-D and dance around after you and Lucy stuck them on the ceiling, but have you tried any serious spells?"<p>

Helene sighed. "No, and I don't know if I should, really. I mean, after you get in trouble once with the witch powers that be, it makes you more cautious."

"Oh, come on," Adrian said. "Playing it safe is just about the most dangerous thing a woman like you could do. Do something big for me. Give it a shot."

"Well, okay," Helene said. "But if the house falls apart or you disappear or something, don't blame me. Hazel's dad could have tampered with my magic when he let me stay. That's what I'm worried about. I mean, what if he made me like Cassandra in Greek mythology? Apollo loved her and gave her the gift of prophecy, but when she pissed him off, he made it so her gift was basically useless. No one believed a word she said. The Trojan horse was brought into the city limits. What if my magic comes out _wrong_?"

He kissed her hand. "Well, you'll never know until you try, will you?"

Helene shut her eyes. "Oh, all right. But what should I do?" Before she could decide, however, they heard their front doorbell ring and Rusty's loud barking.

Adrian went to answer the door and Helene picked Rusty up and moved him to the living room.

"Mom?" Adrian asked once the door was open. "What brings you here?" He let her inside and motioned at the sofa. "Want a drink?" He asked. "We have pop."

Selina nodded. "Coke, please."

Once he'd headed for the kitchen, Selina motioned to Helene. "What is it?" Helene asked. "Is something wrong?"

Selina shook her head. "Not wrong exactly, but Sam got the chicken pox and Damon doesn't want to move him from his house to Elijah's, so we figured that the best thing to do would be for me to go and stay with Damon until Sam gets better."

"I hope you told Uncle Elijah," Adrian said. "Because if you made a plan like that behind his back, he won't be happy."

"Of course I told Elijah about the plan!" Selina snapped. "Why do you think I wouldn't?"

"Why are you telling _me_ this?" Helene asked.

"I'm a little nervous about spending so much time alone with Damon," Selina said. "He still has very obvious feelings for me and I'm afraid that by spending so much time with him, _my_ feelings will come back too. Especially because I found a picture of the kid he and I had before we both became vampires, which is making me long for warm fuzzy family feelings and I'm all vulnerable and ripe for the picking. Can you do anything that will strengthen my resolve?"

"Well, there might be one thing," Helene said. "But I don't know if you'd like it. Come on, though. You don't need magic to deal with this! You're strong, you're tough! You can handle your ex-husband without any magical help. Just try it."

Selina stood up. "Fine." She said. "Fine, I'll spend all that time with Damon and do my best to ignore it when he walks around the house naked on purpose just to irritate me."

"Remember that Dad used to do that to, and you got through it," Adrian told her. "This is the same thing."

Selina smirked. 'Used to?' Please, if I went over to his house today and he knew it was me on the other side of the door, he'd probably answer it naked just to see what I would do." She walked to the front door with Rusty at her heels and left the house.

"You should do that spell for Mom," Adrian told Helene as soon as Selina was gone. "It could be the thing you need to prove you can still do big magic!"

"Wow, sacrificing your mother. I don't know if I should be impressed or disgusted," Helene said. "You don't even know what the spell _does_."

"Well, what does it do?" Adrian asked.

"Have you ever heard of a movie called _The Family Man?_" Helene asked. When he shook his head, she said, "It's basically about this guy who gets an opportunity to find out what his life would have been like if he'd married his college girlfriend instead of going to England and then becoming a banker. The spell would do the same sort of thing for your Mom. She'd be able to see what her life would have been like if she and Damon would have gotten back together right after they became vampires."

"How is that supposed to help Mom?" Adrian asked. "What if she _likes_ what she sees and wants to stay?"

"I don't think she will," Helene said. "She'll be bereft of her children, her good friends, everything that makes her life exciting. All it will do is get rid of her infatuation with Damon and make it so that the two of them stay friends. Are you okay with that?.

Adrian nodded. "You seem pretty sure of yourself all of a can do this!" He said. "You're strong, you're tough, and you're a good witch!"

"Fine," Helene said. "I'll do it. You've convinced me! I just have to get a few things first."

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you're letting her stay here!" Wendy told Damon. "She's <em>dangerous<em>! You told me the first time I met her that she had a drug problem! Or was it an alcohol problem?"

"Oh, I can't remember," Damon said. "But that was before you told me that Bram Stoker was your great-great uncle and you have a bit of a vampire fixation. Then what did I tell _you_?"

Wendy's eyes widened. "So Selina's a vampire too? Just like you?"

Damon nodded. "Yep. And she's got a bit of werewolf in her too, long story there, too little time to tell you, and even if there _was_ time, I think you should hear it from Selina, not me. Besides, she's coming strictly to help me take care of Sam. Nothing other than that will go on."

"Did you think I was worried about that?" Wendy asked. "Because I'm not. Or should I be?"

Damon shook his head. "Oh, no. She'd put the kibosh on anything I tried. Right now she's in a committed relationship with her ex-brother-in-law." He rolled his eyes.

Wendy grinned. "Is she _really_? Well, we'll have to have them over sometime. Now I guess if you have things under control here, I'll go home and let my sitter off the hook. Do you still need a ride to the meeting tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Damon nodded. "My car's on the fritz. See you around three?"

"Of course." Wendy left the house and as soon as she was gone, Sam started crying. Damon sat down on the sofa, took a deep breath, rubbed his temples and went to Sam's room, knowing he'd be counting the minutes until Selina came back to relieve him, even if it was just for a little while.

* * *

><p>Selina wasn't really relishing her next errand: going to see Klaus to tell him that she'd be spending the night with Damon. But she <em>had<em> to do it because she knew he was still watching Lucy. But as she drove toward the house, her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" She said hesitantly. She didn't recognize the number.

"Selina, it's your father. Can we meet? I have to talk to you about something."

"Sure, Daddy," Selina said. "Where are you?"

"At our house," he said. "You know the one I'm talking about. Come right away, please."

Selina said, "I'm heading in that direction right now."

When she reached her parents' house, her father met her at the door. "Thank you for coming," he said. Matthew Warren gave his daughter an appraising look. "Are you all right?" He asked. "You seem upset."

Selina shook her head. "I'm not. I just have to run an errand that I'm really not looking forward to and my son has the chicken pox. That's all. Now what's on _your_ mind?"

"Well, I just thought you should know that your mother invited Caroline Forbes to move in here with us," he said. "I mean, I know that you and your mother don't get along, and that Caroline and _I_ had some past history that you weren't happy about when you first found out, but rest assured that unlike your mother, I won't just toss you aside like a used napkin just because-"

"Hold on a minute!" Selina said. "What are you saying? Mama and Caroline are bonding?"

Matthew was looking sorrowful. "I'm ashamed to say that I think your mother has given up on you, Selina Amelia Elizabeth. She and her friends are going on some silly shopping date and they invited Caroline to come with them when they should have invited you."

Selina shook her head. "Oh, no, Daddy. It's perfectly all right with me that they invited Caroline to go shopping but left me out. I really don't like traipsing around the mall anyway. I'm not mad, I swear. Now as for _you_ and Caroline, what happened there? We never really discussed it."

Matthew shook his head. "There's not much to discuss. Until your mother and I got back together, I still came back to town once a year like I did when you were little and I made friends with the current generation of founding families, _especially _the Forbes family because Lousia's older brother and I were such good friends. I had to compel the adults to let me stay, I'm ashamed to admit, but Caroline took a liking to me, and asked me to that dance that you saw us at. I told her yes, as you well know, but also made it clear that there would never be anything between us because I loved your mother. That was Caroline's and my entire relationship. I was never actually more to her than a family friend. I swear."

Just then, the front door opened and Amelia called out, "Matthew, what is that strange car doing in our driveway? I hope you didn't invite your drinking buddies over to-" She saw Selina sitting at the kitche table and froze. "Oh, my god. Selina, when did you get here?"

"Just a little while ago," Selina said. "Daddy told me about how you invited Caroline on a shopping date with some of your friends."

"I _would_ have invited you," Amelia said. "But I know how much you hate being seen with me."

Selina shook her head. "It's not that I don't like being seen with you. It's just that you and I have very different ideas about what fun is, and they don't exactly mesh. You do tea parties, fashion shows and shopping and I play sports, read and gamble occasionally. It's neither your fault nor mine. It's just the way things are."

"Where do you want me to put the stuff, Amelia?" Caroline asked before Amelia could respond.

"Over there on the chair, dear," Amelia said. Caroline set two bags of what looked like party decorations down on a chair and then Selina ran over to hug her, practically knocking her down. "Thank you," Selina breathed.

"For what?" Caroline asked. "What did I do?"

"You finally got my mother off my back!" Selina said happily when she pulled away. "Her whole life my mother has wanted a social butterfly daughter and was stuck with me. Now she has you to do all the girly stuff with and I don't have to deal with it anymore! You may have just salvaged our entire relationship, Caroline. Thank you!"

"Anything I can do to help," Caroline said, taking a deep breath.

"Are you going to see Nicky tonight?" Selina asked. "Did he ask you out again?"

Caroline shook her head. "No, not in the next couple of days anyway. Why?"

"Well, and I know this is going to sound a little cowardly, but I'm spending the night at Damon's because our son Sam has the chicken pox and since Nicky still has Lucy, I want to let him know that in case some sort of emergency crops up, but I want to avoid going to his house if possible because I just know he'll try and pull something if he sees me to get me into bed or something, so could _you_ go over to his house and tell him? Or would you come with me and be a distraction? Please?"

Caroline looked at her oddly for a moment then sighed. "All right," she said. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>"I don't see what you're so nervous about," Caroline said. "He's your ex-husband. You were married to him for awhile. You should be able to deal with him."<p>

Selina stood beside her, muttering what she was going to tell Klaus about Lucy under her breath so he wouldn't be able to distract her. Caroline rolled her eyes and knocked on the door and when it opened, Selina looked up and began talking in a rush: "Nicky, I only came to tell you that I'm spending the night at Damon's because Sam is sick and I wanted you to be able to reach me if something happened with Lucy. I didn't come here because I wanted to get in bed with you or whatever, so get that idea out of your head."

"You know, you could have just called and saved yourself from having to recite that speech." She blinked. Alistair was smirking at her.

"Alistair!" She hugged him tight. "Thank god it's you! Okay, so you heard what I said, right? Staying at Damon's because Sam has the chicken pox, and that's where he can reach me if he has a problem with Lucy."

"Where can I reach you if I have a problem with Lucy?" Klaus asked, coming to stand next to Alistair.

"I'm going to be at Damon's, taking care of Sam," Selina repeated. "He has the chicken pox."

"So Elijah's going to be all by himself, then?" Klaus asked. "What a lucky break. Finally some time for me to bond with my brother. I'm sure he won't mind having me and Lucy over for the night even though I'm not as pretty or as entertaining as you." He boldly looked Selina up and down.

Selina felt herself flushing.

"Well, I think you're pretty entertaining," Caroline said. "That story you told about spending time with Edvard Munch right before he painted _The Scream_, that was something."

Klaus grinned and nodded. "Oh, Munch was a troubled man. The story I told you was a tad inaccurate, though. I met him when he made his first American art exhibition in New York in 1909. He was a habitual drinker, but his doctor had advised him to stay away from alchol during the exhibit. Of course I didn't know that when I invited him out for a few rounds of scotch and then made him sit down at the piano and sing the latest tunes from Broadway. He was actually a very good singer."

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat," Selina said, "But I have things to do and small children to take care of, so...goodbye!"

As she started to make her way down the front steps, she heard a small voice say "Mama!" She turned around and saw Lucy peering at her from behind Klaus' leg.

"Hi, Lucy-loo," she said. She picked Lucy up and gave her a hug before putting her down again. "I should be getting to Damon's now, I think," she said. "Again, goodbye."

She shut her car door just as Alistair invited Caroline in for a drink and drove away.

* * *

><p>"I'm so glad you're here!" Damon said, pulling Selina into the house. "Sam's been screaming for what seems like hours and I put lotion on him and did all that and he won't stop."<p>

She followed him into Sam's room. Sam was on his knees in his crib and wearing only a diaper. His face was red and he was screaming his head off.

"Oh, it'll be all right," Selina said, picking him up and cuddling him. Even so, it took a little while to quiet him.

"I know this is going to sound bad," Damon said. "But part of me wishes that Mary Poppins or somebody like that would show up and make Sam's chicken pox disappear."

"Well, things don't work that way," Selina said. "We're capable people. We can handle this."

Just then, the doorbell rang. "I'll stay here with Sam," Selina said. "You go answer the door."

Damon nodded, and when he opened the door, he found a woman with long dark hair and dark eyes standing on the other side, grinning at him.

"Hello," she said, holding out her hand for him to shake. "My name's Helene, and I've been given to understand that you have a sick child in this house?"

Damon nodded. "Yeah, we do. Chicken pox. And neither his mother nor I have any idea what we're doing."

Helene nodded satisfactorily. "I came to the right place then. You look like you could use a rest. How about you give the boy over to me for the night and I'll take care of him while you and your wife take a break?"

"Just a minute," Damon said. He went back to Sam's room. "There's a woman named Helene outside that says she'll take care of Sam while you and I 'take a break'. It's odd. I wish for someone to show up and help take care of Sam and then she does. It's like magic or something."

Selina handed Sam to Damon and went to the front door to find Helene who was still standing on the steps. "I came to do that spell for you," Helene said to her. "The spell that will make you resistant to Damon. Only problem is, you won't be in this place once it's cast, so I thought it would be best to get Sam out of the way first."

Selina nodded. "Good thinking. Does Adrian know about this? Does he know he'll be playing host to a kid?"

"Yeah," Helene nodded. "In fact, this whole thing was his idea! Now, you go get Sam and I'll cast the spell and then he and I will be on our way."

Selina went and told Damon that Helene was reputable, then she and Sam left and Damon and Selina watched movies unil midnight. Then, she yawned and went to dress for bed, tucking herself into her own bed, while Damon tucked himself into _his_ own bed. Which was why it was all the more surprising that the next thing she saw was Damon grinning in the bed beside her and sunlight trickling through large window in a master bedroom.

"Morning, sweetheart!" He said, brushing hair out of her eyes. "How'd you sleep last night?"


	10. Brotherly Love

Selina's eyes widened. "Well I slept fine," she said. "Thank you for asking. But I slept in my own bed. At your other house. And you were in your own bed. At your other house. Now we're back at the boardinghouse." She eyed Damon suspiciously. "You're not trying to pull anything, are you?"

"What do you mean?" He asked her. "We've always slept in the same bed. We can do that. We're married, remember?"

Selina sat up in the bed and looked around the room. "This isn't our room. We haven't always slept together and we're not married, at least not anymore. So you tell me what's going on.

He shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. I remember going to bed by myself last night, but I woke up and there you were next to me. I can't explain it, but it doesn't bother me."

"How can it not bother you?" Selina yelled. "We're in a strange place and we have no idea how we got here or how to get back home! You _should_ be worried!"

He just grinned and shook his head. "Lina, relax. You worry too much. If we don't know how to get back, we might as well sit back and enjoy the ride until we figure it out. I mean that lady Helene took Sam, didn't she? So it's not like he's not being taken care of. Clearly someone wants us to be together."

While listening to him talk, Selina grabbed a bathrobe off the bedpost nearest her and put it on before getting out of bed. When Damon mentioned Helene, she turned around quickly. "Helene, that's it! How could I forget? She did this!"

"Oh, really?" Damon asked. "Well remind me to send her flowers when we get back home."

"Oh, I don't think you'll want to be sending her flowers," Selina said. "The point of the spell is to make me realize that it's foolish to stay so attached to you. To help me realize that I need to move on from you and live my own life."

"Well, you know, that's really hurtful," Damon said. "Why would you want to get away from me? Who knows you better than I do? We've known each other for years. That's what keeps you coming back to me, isn't it? That's why you can't stay away."

Before Selina could reply, there was a knock on the bedroom door. "Are you both decent?" Stefan called. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Selina called. "Why not?"

Stefan came in the room, but he hadn't come alone. Someone else was with him. "Morning," Elena greeted both of them. "Better get dressed, both of you. We have to figure out what we're going to do today."

"Well, I figured Selina and I would just stay in," Damon said. "If it's all right with the two of you."

"You just want to milk this as long as possible, don't you?" Selina said to him. "You don't even care about Sam or Lucy and how the longer we stay here, the worse it will be for them."

"Who are Sam and Lucy?" Elena asked.

"Oh, nobody," Damon said. "They're just products of Selina's mind. She still has trouble dealing with the whole Joshua thing."

"No, they aren't!" Selina said. "They're real and they're my kids!"

"You're a vampire," Elena reminded her gently. "You can't have any kids. The only one you've ever had was Joshua and he came before you were turned." Elena looked worriedly at Damon. "What could have caused her to act this way?"

Damon shrugged. "It could be that we found some old pictures of Joshua in a trunk in the attic and seeing them upset her. I think we should get rid of them."

"I could go take care of that right now," Stefan said. "I meant to after what happened. I thought she wouldn't want to look at them. I don't blame her for being upset." He looked at Elena. "Would you help me get rid of the pictures?"

Elena nodded. "Sure. Anything to help Selina through her difficult time. And after that, can we go hunting?"

Stefan nodded. "Sure."

They left the room and Selina tried to follow them, but Damon held her steady. "Don't," he said.

"Why not?" Selina asked. "They're going to destroy all the pictures I have of my only child. And Damon, that's _all_ I have!"

Damon nodded. "I know. I know."

Selina sighed. "I've been in this spell world for less than ten minutes and already I hate it."

Damon sat back down on the bed and motioned for him to join her. "So where are we, anyway?" Damon asked when Selina was beside him. "What's going on?"

"I told you," Selina said. "Alistair's daughter Helene offered to cast a spell for me that would show me what life would have been like for me if you and I had stayed together the entire time. So far, all I've learned is that my only kid is dead and I can't have any more, and that _Elena_ is my best friend. Even if she _is_ a vampire, it's not a good enough exchange for Anna."

"Well, like you say, we've only been here ten minutes," Damon said. "Why don't you give this place a chance."

Selina sighed. "Fine, but I don't think I'll like it. No offense or anything."

Damon rolled his eyes. "If I'm supposed to say 'none taken,' I don't want to. Now get dressed. We don't want those two to think you're more messed up than they already think you are."

It took a lot longer than expected for Selina and Damon to get downstairs, and when they reached the kitchen, Selina saw someone familiar sitting at the breakfast table.

"I called Dr. Fale to come have a look at you," Stefan said. "It was Elena's idea. She's really worried about you."

Helene stood up and came to meet her. "Stefan said you've had another bad morning. Would you like to come into the living room and talk about it with me?"

"Sure," Selina said. "Why not?" She followed Helene into the living room and they both sat down on the sofa.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Selina asked. "I mean, not that I'm not happy to see you because this whole place is a nightmare, but..."

"I had to come and make sure the spell worked," Helene said. "And to warn you about something."

"Warn me about something?" Selina asked, frowning. "I'm not going to be stuck here forever, am I? I hate this place!"

Helene sighed. "Not forever, but you won't be going back as soon as you want to."

"Why?" Selina asked. "Helene, what's wrong?"

Helene cast her eyes down and flushed a little. "I saw Enid's sister Hazel, you know, the witch? She visited me after I did the spell for you and she told me that I shouldn't have. Apparently, her father is still sore at me for what I did to all those people after I died, and although he let me keep my life, he put limitations on my magic until such time as he sees fit to remove them. And the limitations include not doing any big spells. I have to _earn_ the right to do big magic. Until then, I'm about as powerful as a magician at a six-year-old's birthday party."

"But that's not true! You did the spell for me!" Selina said, gesturing wildly around the living room. "I'm in whatever place this is and my kids don't exist and Elena is my friend and everyone else thinks I'm crazy, so you did _something_ right!"

Helene nodded. "I can_ do_ them. To say I don't have the magic is inaccurate. I have the magic and can do the spells. They just don't turn out the way they're supposed to."

"So where does that put me once all this is over?" Selina asked.

Helene shrugged. "I don't know. I'm sorry. I'll go now, before I can cause any more trouble." She disappeared and Selina walked back to the living room, her whole body feeling heavy.

"Are you feeling better?" Elena asked. "Did you and Dr. Fale have a nice talk?"

As long as I'm stuck here, I should probably do this more than halfway, Selina thought. "Yeah, we did. I'm feeling _much_ better now."

Elena nodded. "Good."

"Now refresh my memory because I'm really forgetful sometimes, but how is it that you're here?" Selina asked Elena. "I assume that you made that reference to hunting because you're a vampire now?"

Elena nodded. "Yeah, I'm a vampire now." They all sat in uncomfortable silence a moment before Elena stood up. "So, what are we going to do today?"

"I don't know," Selina said. "We're in Mystic Falls. What _is_ there to do around here, really?"

"I think you should stay in," Damon said. "And maybe rest a bit."

"I don't need to rest," Selina said through her teeth. "I'm fine."

"Well, are you hungry?" Elena asked her. "We could go get doughnuts or something."

"Oh, goody," Selina said dryly. "Doughnuts. The highlight of my day."

"Come on, cheer up!" Elena said. "A chocolate doughnut with sprinkles would brighten anybody's day!"

After another warning from Stefan to stay inside and, oddly enough, to neither answer the phone nor the door, no matter who called or knocked, they left to get the doughnuts, leaving Selina alone in the kitchen.

"My _god_," she whispered, running fingers through her hair. "I wish I was _dead._"

Just then, the phone rang Selina sat up like a shot and got up to go to the phone. She reached out for it, but then remembered what Stefan said about not answering the phone. But _then_ she thought, what could be so bad that he didn't want her to answer the phone? She picked it up and put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Who is this?" Asked the voice on the other side. "I don't think I've ever talked to you before. I'd like to talk to Stefan Salvatore. Could you get him for me, please?"

"I can't, I'm sorry," Selina said. "He went out. This is his sister-in-law, but I could give him a message, if you tell me who's calling."

There was silence on the other end of the line, and then a click. The other caller had hung up. Taking a deep breath, Selina put the phone back down in its cradle and went to put on her jacket. She needed some air. She couldn't be in this house another minute.

* * *

><p>"So you're back all right?" Adrian asked when Helene came into the living room. "Did you find my mom?"<p>

"Yeah, I did," Helene nodded and slipped off her white trench coat, hanging it up in the closet. "I told her everything. Well, not _everything._ I should have, but all she knows is that my magic is on the fritz and the spell is a tad unpredictable."

"Well, what else is there to tell?" Adrian asked. He and Sam were watching wresting and trying to replicate the moves and the latter was much happier now that he had been cured of his chicken pox. Helene gave them a small smile. "There's _lots_ more to tell, actually," she said. "Your mother is going to be in for a big shock if she ever leaves the boardinghouse."

Just then, Elijah called. "Where's your mother?" He asked Adrian. "I've tried calling her at Damon's house several times, but she's not there."

"No, she's not," Adrian said. "Helene cast a spell for her that would show her what her life would have been like if she and Damon would have stayed together after they became vampires. So they're in some other place now, a place that is apparently unreachable by phone."

"Well, when is she coming back?" Elijah asked.

"I don't know," Adrian said. "But Helene's here with me. She could probably tell you." He handed the phone to Helene and told her who it was.

"Hi, Elijah," she said. "No, I don't exactly know when she'll be back. My magic isn't at its peak right now, so it could be hours, days, weeks, I don't know. I'm sorry." Her eyes widened. "Oh, please don't tell my father!" She paused. "All right, I'll try and fix it. I'll do what I can."

* * *

><p>Elijah hung up the phone and headed to the kitchen to pour himself a drink.<p>

"Another one?" Klaus asked. "What is going on? Problems in paradise?"

Elijah shook his head. "No, Selina's missing. Helene put some spell on her and now she's 'some other place'. And on top of that, Helene says her magic is not at its best, so who _knows_ when Selina will be coming back? I hope she's not in trouble wherever she is."

"You have to have more faith in her," Klaus said. "She's much more resilient than you believe. Now, will you answer my question about Mary Anne, or not?"

"What question?" Elijah asked.

"You told me you saw her." Klaus said. "Where did you see her?"

"Aleksandr has taken a young girl named Mary Anne under his wing," Elijah said. "I heard them talking and he told her that he was married to a woman that she knew named Sera. And you and I both know that the only person Aleksandr's ever been involved with is Selina. But why call her Sera?"

"Because that was her name back when Mary Anne knew her," Klaus said, bouncing Lucy up and down on his lap a few times. "And back when she wasn't at her best. Now, where _is_ Aleksandr exactly? I want to talk to him."

* * *

><p>"Your father wants to see you," Mary Anne said to Aleksandr. "He found something else that might be helpful in catching Lonely Heart."<p>

Aleksandr looked up. "Thank you," he said. "What did he find?" Mary Anne led him to the study. "I'll let him tell you that," she said. "But it's something _really_ juicy." She left him at the study door. "That picture of Sera that's on the mantel, you don't mind if I look at it, do you?"

Aleksandr shook his head. "No, I don't mind."

Mary Anne headed for the living room and Mikael invited Aleksandr into the study. "Mary Anne said you found another clue in the search for Lonely Heart?"

Mikael nodded. "I did." He pushed another news clipping in Aleksandr's direction. "In the town of Mystic Falls, in the woods, police officers found some horribly mutilated bodies, all of young men who'd come to have a good time."

"That can't be Lonely Heart," Aleksandr said. "It doesn't fit her pattern at all."

"But you have to remember that a killer's methodology can change over time," Mikael reminded him. "Just because Lonely Heart enjoyed killing married couples several years ago doesn't mean that's still all she does. And it's not that much of a stretch. She killed men slowly and painfully back then and she kills men slowly and painfully now."

"So you think we should head to Mystic Falls next, then?"

Mikael nodded. "I think we should."

Aleksandr nodded. "All right. But let's wait until tomorrow. I have something I need to do first."

"So why is it that you told Selina she couldn't answer the phone or the door?" Damon asked Stefan. "It seems a bit much, don't you think?"

Stefan sighed. "I told her that because..."

"Just go ahead and tell him," Elena said. "He can handle it."

"What?" Damon said.

"It's just that Joshua's been in contact with me again. He wants me to convince Selina to see him so that the two of them can make peace. I don't think she's ready to do that yet. Do _you_ think she is?"

"Wait!" Damon said, holding up a hand. "Joshua is _talking to you_? I think someone has had a bit too much to drink. Joshua's _dead_!"

"Ah," Stefan nodded. "So I see you're not ready to have a reconciliation either. I have to say that I thought you'd handle Joshua's transformation better than this. You sound just like Father did when he got angry with you for quitting the army."

"Oh, no!" Damon shook his head. "I'm not passing any judgment. I'm stating a fact. He died in '39 and..." Damon paused. "Joshua's _transformation_? Is he a vampire?"

Stefan nodded. "Yes."

"Well how did _that_ happen?" Damon asked.

Stefan shook his head. "I don't know precisely. He's never actually told me. All I know is that he was doing something he shouldn't have. Something Selina probably wouldn't have approved of."

Damon smiled. "So he was living a little? What's wrong with that? I'm proud of him."

"Are you proud he's a vampire?" Elena asked.

"Well, it's not what I would have wanted for him," Damon said. "But I won't blame him because things happen."

Just then, Stefan's phone rang. "Hello?" He said. "Joshua, what is it? You _what_? Why didn't you call my cell first? Did she answer? Did you talk to her? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Where are you?" He paused. "Fine, meet us at the Grill in ten minutes and we'll talk. Uh-huh. Goodbye." He hung up, looking troubled. "Selina answered the phone," he said. "Joshua called and Selina answered the phone. It's a good thing he chickened out once she said who she was and hung up. I really think that somebody else should be with her when the two of them see each other again."

"So can I come to the Grill with you and see him?" Damon asked. "I want to."

"Sure," Stefan nodded. "Why not?"

* * *

><p>Selina took a deep breath as she strolled away from the boardinghouse and down the sidewalk. She was thirsty. Not for blood, just a soda. She walked to the Grill, but to her surprise, there was a parking lot where the restaurant used to be. She turned and began walking back to the boardinghouse, hoping she'd run into someone who could give her directions on the way.<p>

About two blocks away from the parking lot, she passed by an alleyway where a young man with his back to her was leaning against a trash can. He was eating something, something that he struggled to keep a grip on. Hesitantly, she walked toward him, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. "Excuse me," she said. "Are you okay? Could you help me?"

It was then that the young man turned to face her. His mouth was covered with blood and she saw that he was holding a struggling, bleeding rabbit. When they locked eyes, they both started, and the rabbit was able to jump out of the boy's arms and get away.

"Oh, my god," Selina said. She knew the face that was staring back at her as well as she knew her own. She began backing away. "Oh, my god. "Oh, my _god!"_

"Please, Mother," the young man said. "Please stay calm. Let me explain!" But she shook her head and ran out of the alleyway. He followed her, hollering at her to stop before she reached the street, but he went unheeded. Selina's momentum carried her into the street where she was promptly hit by a car, and crumpled to the ground.

Joshua Salvatore stood frozen, staring at his mother's crumpled body from the sidewalk. He hadn't meant for her to find out this way. When he could move again, he went to wipe the blood from his mouth and when he got back, the police and ambulances had arrived.

"Did you see what happened?" A policeman asked him. He nodded. "Yeah, I did. And I'll come with her to the hospital too. I'm family."

En route to the hospital, Joshua called Stefan again. "I have bad news," he said. "Mom saw me when I was feeding and it freaked her out. She had an accident. Ran into the street and got hit by a car. We're on our way to the hospital now. Could you meet us there? All right. Bye, Uncle Stefan."

Just as he was hanging up, he heard a moan. He looked down. Selina's eyes were open. "How did this happen?" She asked him. "You're not supposed to be like this. You're supposed to have been taken in by your grandfather and lived out your normal life."

Joshua took his mother's hand and sighed. "That was the plan, Mother," he said. "But Dad came back and got me away from Grandfather, don't you remember? Because you told him you wanted to raise me yourself. So I grew up with the two of you and then in 1883, I went off to college and while I was there, I joined a club. The members all claimed to be vampires, and I wanted to try and disprove the claim. I was on the paper, you know. I thought that debunking the myth of the club would be a good article. But the members found out, kidnapped me and turned me. I guess they weren't making stuff up after all."

"And you stayed in this club?" Selina asked. "For how long?"

"I only got out recently," he said. "The rest of them were all killed by a hunter. All except me. I managed to get away."

"Well, at least there's that," Selina said. "I thought this happened because you were getting involved in things you weren't supposed to, but if it was for the sake of journalism, then I suppose I can't be too mad at you."

"You wish I would have stayed human, don't you?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, I kind of do wish that. But what's done is done. We can't change it now." She held his hand tighter, and closed her eyes. Then she felt a _whoosh _ and when she opened her eyes again, she was back at Damon's house. Groaning, she sat up in bed. That had been some trip.

Damon came in a few seconds later. "I just had the strangest dream," he said. "Stefan and Elena were still together and he told me the strangest story about Joshua being a vampire and..."

Selina nodded. "If you and I would have stayed together, he would have been. Because you're too nice to me. In the dream, he told me that if you and I would have stayed together, we would have raised Joshua ourselves instead of keeping him with your father. In the story he told, when we sent him off to college, he became a vampire because of a newspaper story gone awry, but it probably would have been some other reason in different circumstances."

"So what?" Damon asked. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that for the first time since we were turned, I don't feel like I need to keep clinging to you and me and asking 'What if?'". Us being separated after we became vampires was probably the best thing that could have happened to Joshua. It was what made him stay _human. _That's something we should be grateful for. Joshua being human, me getting to see the world, branch out, meet new people. I always knew I was meant for more than life in a small town. And when I was forced to be on my own, I got my chance."

Damon eyed her bitterly. "Well it's nice you figured all this out, but what about _me_?"

"You've got Wendy now," Selina said. "And eventually, you'll find someone who will love you and make you happy, someone better than me. And the only reason why you and I got together wasn't because you were in love with me. You loved me, sure, but you were never in love with me. I was an obligation to you. You were the one person in town who really understood all of my problems and you didn't want to abandon me, so you stayed by me. I thank you for that, but it's not something I need anymore. I think It's time for both of us to move on."

"Okay, well fine," Damon said. "You go ahead and move on. Get out!"

"Want to come by in a bit and get Lucy?" Selina asked. "She'll cheer you up I bet."

"Fine," Damon said. "Will you just go away?"

* * *

><p>"There you are!" Elijah said when he opened the door. He picked Selina up and carried her to their room. "I was worried sick about you."<p>

Selina sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. I was getting closure."

"How do you mean?" He asked. "Wait a minute, don't tell me yet." He kissed her once and then kissed her again.

"Wait!" Selina said. "Is Nicky outside?"

"Yes," Elijah was kissing down her neck. "Why? Why are we talking about him _now_?"

"I need to have a quick word with him," Selina said. "I'll be back in a minute, and you better be naked by then."

She left the bedroom and found Klaus and Lucy sitting in front of the television. "Nicky," she said, "We need to have a word. Shut the television off, please."

"Oh, all right," Klaus looked her up and down. "You look nice."

Selina ignored this. "I have a question," she said. "Do you like my friend Caroline?"

He nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Doesn't seem like it," she said. "What with you always looking _me_ over every chance you get? Don't you want a chance at a real relationship?"

He nodded. "I suppose. But how am I supposed to have one if my attraction toward you gets in the way?"

"Go see Uncle Jake," Selina said. "You remember where he lives? He'll be able to help you. And it'll make you much happier, I promise."

Klaus sighed. "All right, I'll go see him. I doubt he'll be able to help me, but I'll go see him."

Just then, the doorbell rang. "That must be Damon," Selina said. "We sorta broke up and I thought an evening with Lucy would bolster him up." She picked up Lucy and brought her to Damon and Damon left without saying goodbye. Klaus left soon afterward and Selina went back to Elijah's room. He stood just inside the door, still dressed.

"Hey!" She frowned. "I told you to be naked! Why are you still wearing clothes? Do you have some aversion to doing what I ask?"

He grinned and pulled her to him. "Not exactly," he said. "It's just that it's no fun for me to undress alone. When you watch, you get a look on your face, a look of _awe_, of admiration." He unbuttoned his shirt and put it on the bedpost, grinning at the look on Selina's face. "That's the look," he said. "I like that look."

He undid his pants and pulled them off, then kissed her again. "You can't resist me," he whispered in her ear.

She grinned. "I guess not. Now, do you want my coat, or my dress?" When he didn't answer, she pulled off both and stood in front of him in her panties. "Now who's wearing a look of awe and admiration?" As he ran his hands over her body, she said, "You like me for my mind, too, right?"

He grinned. "I admire your mind and I admire your spirit, but the fact that they come in such an alluring package is delightful also." He picked her up and threw her on the bed, then got on top of her and threw her bra and panties over his shoulder, then planted kisses on her neck and stomach before licking her inner thighs and inside her before thrusting in her and making her scream.

* * *

><p>Damon brought Lucy and Sam who they'd picked up along the way inside and put them down in front of the television, but as he went to take off his jacket, he heard the phone ring. He threw his coat in the closet and ran to answer it, but by the time he got to the living room to grab the phone next to the TV, he saw Lucy getting to her feet and toddling toward the phone, picking it up and putting it to her ear. Damon considered taking the phone away from her, but then he realized that it was probably Stefan who was calling, so he decided to let Lucy take the call, just for a laugh.<p>

"Hi," she said. She waited for a little while without saying a word, then said "bye-bye," threw the phone on the floor and sat down, her thumb in her mouth, watching Damon carefully as he stood with his hand on the wall, shaking from laughter because he could still hear Stefan calling for him from the other end of the line. He picked up the phone and tried to stop himself from laughing. "Hi," he said. "I was thinking of hiring Lucy as my secretary. Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Focus," Stefan said. "Where have you been all day? Do you realize how many times I've had to talk to Wendy because she had no idea where you were and was worried sick? Call her, would you?"

"Fine, I'll call her." He hung up on Stefan and called Wendy.

"Hey," he said when she answered. "I had to go out of town on an emergency. Sorry I didn't tell you. What happened at group today?"

"We got a new member," Wendy said. "An Aleksandr Mikaelson who has a daughter named Mary Anne."

Before Damon could respond, the television blared to life. He looked over and saw Sam and Lucy fighting over the remote. He hung up the phone and went to separate them, but even before he reached them he watched in amazement as Lucy flew onto the sofa seemingly by herself, leaving Sam happily chewing on the remote.

"Oh, don't do that," Damon said, taking it away from him. We need to get you both to bed. I'm seeing things that aren't there. I need to get to sleep."

After he'd tucked them both in, he heard a slight noise. He looked up from Lucy's bed and saw something amazing near Sam's bed, a shaft of light that coalesced into a young man who had features very similar to Damon's own.

"How?" Damon asked the figure. "What? Who? Joshua? Did you do that to Lucy?"

Joshua nodded. "You weren't seeing things. I just thought I should be looking out for my little brother." He moved away from Sam's bed and over to Lucy's. "She's a little spitfire, isn't she?"

"How do you know about Sam?" Damon asked. "Who he is, I mean?"

Joshua shrugged. "I watch, I listen, I learn. And I'm going to be here awhile. Just promise me you won't tell Mom. I went through a lot to make myself visible to you."


	11. I'll Be There For You

"What's the matter with you?" Elijah asked as Selina stomped back into their bedroom the next morning clutching the phone and looking perturbed.  
>Selina heaved an exaggerated sigh. "Damon said he won't let me see Sam anymore. Apparently he's decided to have a less than grown-up reaction to the fact that I've moved on with my life and feel that he should do the same." She sighed. "I should probably go over and talk to him."<br>Elijah shook his head. "Oh, no. I will. Let me."  
>Selina shook her head. "That's really not necessary. I can handle it."<br>"Why are you so eager to see him?" Elijah asked. "Is it because you want to continue whatever went on between the two of you yesterday?"  
>"Of course not!" Selina said. "Why would you even think...?"<br>"Never mind!" Elijah thundered. "You're going to stay here and I am going to deal with Damon."  
>Selina's lips became a thin line. "Over my dead body." She scampered over to the door and blocked it. "You're not leaving this room!"<p>

Elijah just smirked and picked her up, placing her on the bed. "You will stay here until you stop acting like a child."

Selina's eyes narrowed. "Well, maybe if you stopped _treating_ me like a child, I'll stop acting like one! I mean seriously, what is your _deal? _I know I'm way younger than you. But I've been around some. I know stuff. Why can't you just acknowledge that?"

He turned to face her. "Why can't you let me handle Damon? You know it's not a problem for me."

"Exactly!" Selina nodded. "It's not your problem! It's my bullshit that I have to deal with and you shouldn't have it on your shoulders."

Elijah advanced toward the bed and put a hand on Selina's cheek. "You're acting like taking care of you is a burden for me, but it's not. I _want_ to take care of you because you mean a lot to me and I don't like seeing you be hurt by Damon or Klaus or anybody else."

Selina put a hand on his wrist. "Really? So you're like my knight in shining armor or something?"

He nodded. "If you want to think that way, I suppose I am."

Selina put her arms around him. "I _do _want to think that way, even if the idea of the 'knight in shining armor' is actually just a bunch of schlock. In reality, knights were more like gangsters or loan sharks. They spent more time beating up the peasants for the lord of the manor's rent than they did protecting ladies."

He put a hand under her chin. "What happened to you?" He asked her. "You're not supposed to sound jaded like this. When we were watching _ La Traviata, _you went on and on about love conquering all. Have you forgotten about that already?"

Selina rubbed her eyes. "Well it's kind of hard to remember when you've got a romance resume like mine. Hell, maybe I should have stayed with Nicky. At least when I was with him years ago, I didn't have to worry about my feelings or anyone else's feelings. I just did what I wanted and it was _so nice_."

He kissed her forehead. "Yes, but were you happy?"

She nodded. "I was."

He shook his head. "No you weren't. You couldn't have been. Were you lonely?" He paused. "What about the years after Aleksandr left you? You were all alone in that big, empty house..."

Selina's lip began to tremble. "Stop talking like that!" She said shrilly. "You're going to make me cry!"

He ignored this. "You were all alone in that big empty house. I mean, of course you had all the money you could want, didn't you? But you didn't have anyone to go to bed with at night, no one to put his arms around you and hold you and..." He put his arms around her and pulled her to him, hugging her tight.

"No," she said, burying her head in his shoulder. She was sniffling now. "No, I didn't. And it wasn't any fun at all! I was so alone!" Her body was shaking.

"I know, I know, shhh...but you don't have to be alone anymore. I'm not going to leave you. I promise." He kissed the tears off her cheeks and then she brought her lips to his, slowly easing off his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt, taking that off too after unzipping his pants. He moved her so she was underneath him and slowly removed the tank top and shorts she wore as pajamas. He kissed down her stomach and she squirmed when he ran his tongue over the inside of her thighs before pulling away and entering her slowly, almost to the hilt. Then he slowly pulled out and did it again and again until she looked about ready to fall asleep.

"Do you need a break?" He asked her.

She nodded. "Just a lil' one. But you can wake me up in half an hour and we'll have another go."

He nodded. "All right," he said. "You just relax and go ahead and sleep..." He gently rubbed her back and her eyes slowly closed. When her breathing was steady and regular, he moved his hands off her back, got off the bed, zipped up his pants and put his shirt and coat on before tucking her in, grabbing her phone off the bedside table, and then locking the bedroom door behind him. He had some business to take care of, but he knew it wouldn't take very long. She wouldn't even know that he had gone.

* * *

><p>The sound of one of the neighbors cutting down a tree roused Selina from sleep. "Elijah?" She said drowsily, "where are you? I'm rested and ready to go again!" She sat up and looked around. He wasn't anywhere in sight. And her phone was gone off the bedside table. She got out of bed and put a bathrobe on, going around the bed to see if it had fallen onto the floor where she couldn't see it, but it wasn't anywhere in the room. She went to the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. She shut her eyes. "Oh, shit," she whisped. "I've just been screwed, haven't I?" Growling, she went and punched a hole through the window. It made her hand bleed, but she didn't care. Then, she took a deep breath. "I'll just try the door again, shall I?" She whispered to herself. She went to the door and pulled on the knob again and pulled and pulled and pulled until it came out in her hand. She looked down at the knob and back at the hole in the door where it had been and she burst out laughing. "You're kidding me, right?" She tried to put the knob back in the door, but it wouldn't go. She was stuck in the bedroom with no way out until Elijah came back and opened the door from the outside. She rolled her eyes and went to sit on the bed. He probably knew that would happen. He was probably laughing at her right now. She sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking about what to do next, then ran at the door, hoping the force of her body would knock it down. It probably wouldn't, but it was worth a shot.<p>

* * *

><p>"Oh, hello," Wendy said when she opened the door in response to Elijah's knock. "Who are you?"<p>

"I have urgent business with Damon," he told her. "May I come in?"

Wendy narrowed her eyes. "It depends. Do you know Damon's crazy ex-wife? Are you here because of Sam?"

Elijah nodded. "Why, yes I am. Now, step aside, please."

Wendy shook her head. "I think not. I think you should go."

Elijah reached out and ran his fingers through her hair. "Has anyone ever told you that you have nice hair?" He asked.

Wendy shook her head. "No, they haven't."

Elijah put his hands on both of her cheeks and then deftly snapped her neck, dropping her crumpled body to the floor. "And they never will," he said. "Stupid humans." He rolled his eyes.

"What's going on in here?" Damon came in. He saw Wendy's body and then looked up at Elijah. "What did you do that for?" He asked.

"She wouldn't let me in," Elijah said. "And you and I have some things to discuss."

"You didn't have to kill her," Damon said. "She had a daughter!"

"Well, she should have thought of her child before she declined to let me inside."

"What brings you here?" Damon asked. "Did Selina send you? Why didn't she come and talk to me herself?"

"She didn't come because I offered to come instead," Elijah said. "Now, we can either have a pleasant enough conversation ending with you giving me Sam and keeping all your limbs, or we can skip the conversation, you join your friend here," he looked dismissively at Wendy, "and I take Sam afterward. Either way, Sam leaves with me. It just depends how much you value your own life."

Damon sighed. "Look, if Selina is upset about our talk this morning, I didn't intend for it to go the way it did. I was upset. I was going to call her later and apologize, I swear!"

Elijah pushed Damon against the wall, his hand on Damon's throat and stuck a knife from the kitchen table in his ribs. "I certainly hope you aren't lying to me," he said through his teeth. "She's already given you more chances than you deserve. You have no idea how lucky you are." Damon groaned as Elijah pulled the knife out and released him. "Make the phone call. Now."

"I can't," Damon said. "I'm in the middle of something and..."

Elijah brandished the knife again and Damon picked up the phone, dialing quickly. It rang and rang, but there was no answer.

"She's not answering," Damon said after he'd let it ring for a minute and a half. "Maybe Selina went out. I'll try again later."

Elijah's eyes widened. "She can't have gone out! I locked her in our room!"

"Something must've happened to her," Damon said. "You might want to go and see." He winced. Blood seeped through his fingers as Elijah picked up Sam and left the house with him.

"And just who was that?" Joshua asked when he appeared a few seconds later. "And where is he taking Sam?"

Damon groaned. "He's taking Sam to see your mother," he said. "That guy? He's her new boyfriend."

* * *

><p>"Vince!" Roxie said when she opened the apartment door. "What are you doing here?"<p>

"I just came by to see you," Vince said. "I feel like it's been ages."

Roxie motioned for him to come in. "Have a seat," she said. "I'll have Agnes get you a drink if you want."

He sat down and sighed. "You know, you should probably let her go. Her parents' termite thing ended a few days ago and they want her to come back."

"Well, that's just too bad," Roxie said. "I like having a minion. Agnes!" She called imperiously, "Vince is here and he could use a drink!"

Agnes appeared and came to stand in front of him. "What would you like?"

"Beer, I suppose," he said. "If you have any."

Agnes nodded mechanically, then looked at Roxie. "I'll have my usual Diet Coke with ice," she said. "You're a dear. So," she turned back to Vince, "You just decided to come and see me? That's nice. But kind of bad timing. Dad and I are going to see a movie in about half an hour."

"Oh, what a _shame_," Vince said. "What movie?"

She told him and he said, "I've been wanting to see that for ages. Why don't you and I go instead? And we can go to lunch first."

"Oh, you mean like a date?" Roxie brightened.

Vince nodded. "But I mean, I _understand_ if you want to see it with your dad, but I thought that you and I could..."

"You know what? Who cares about him?" Roxie said. She scoffed. "What kind of lame teenager goes to the movies with their parents anyway?"

"All right, if you insist," Vince said. He stood up and offered her his hand. "Let's go," he said. They left the apartment building and headed to the parking lot. "You brought a _car_ here?" Roxie asked, eyeing the black Sedan. "Since when did you have a _car?"_

"I borrowed it from Uncle Pete," Vince said. "My bike's in the shop. I hope you don't mind." Roxie was just about to get into the car when Agnes appeared, clutching a sweating glass of Diet Coke in one hand and a beer in the other. "Don't forget these," she said. Once she was gone, Vince and Roxie drank their drinks and then drove away from the apartment complex, but as they were driving toward the movie theater, Roxie noticed something strange. "Oh, my god," she said. "The car next to us is my dad's!"

"Are you sure?" Vince asked. "It can't be!"

"But it _is_!" Roxie insisted. "I can see him through the window! And there's a blonde woman I've never seen before next to him in the passenger's seat!"

"So what?" Vince asked.

"So, who the hell _is_ she?" Roxie asked. "And what's _she_ doing in the car with him when he's supposed to be going to the movies with _me?_ The way they're driving is the opposite way of my apartment. Dad was going to ditch me for some _woman_!"

"Why does that even _matter_?" Vince asked. "I thought you said that cool people didn't go places with their parents."

"Let's follow them," Roxie said. "I don't care about the movie anymore."

"No," Vince said. "We're not going to stalk your father and his new girlfriend. We're going to go to lunch and a movie and have a good day."

Roxie turned on him. "Are you part of it?" She asked him. "Did you _know_ that Dad was gonna ditch me? Did he send you over to the apartment as some sort of distraction so I wouldn't figure out what he was up to?"

"No!" Vince exclaimed. "I came because I wanted to _and_ because your father wanted me to distract you while he took out his new girlfriend instead of taking you to the movies. But my wanting to see you came first."

"Pull over," Roxie said. "I'm driving this car."

"No," Vince shook his head.

"_Pull over_." Roxie said through her teeth. "And let me drive the damn car." When he didn't acquiesce, she grabbed the wheel and caused the car to swerve. Vince righted it and looked at her in amazement. "What the hell did you do that for?" He asked. "You could have wrecked my uncle's car!"

"If you don't want me to try it again, let me drive," Roxie said. Rolling his eyes, Vince let Roxie into the driver's seat and they continued to follow Klaus and Caroline until both cars ended up at a small outdoor cafe.

"What do you want to do now?" Vince asked as they stood behind a particularly tall, leafy plant. "Are we going to stand behind this plant forever?"

"Well, we can't very well just stroll out into the open and say 'Hi,' can we?" Roxie asked. "Now who is that woman?"

"That's Caroline, your mom's friend," Vince said. "I can't believe you haven't heard about her."

Roxie looked at the woman next to her father in shock. "_That's_ Caroline? But she looks like such a..._cheerleader._ I would have thought my mother associated with better types of people, but apparently not."

"That's it," Vince said. "You've seen her, you hate her, can we go to the movie now?"

"No!" Roxie said. "We're staying right here. We just have to be stealthy."

"You're insane, you know that?" Vince whispered, just as Klaus looked toward them. Roxie grabbed Vince, threw him behind a bush and kissed him hard.

"Well that was fun," he said when it was over.

"You owe me," Roxie said, getting up off him and dusting off her skirt. "If Daddy had seen you failing at your mission to keep me from being here, you would have been in _trouble._ But I saved you. You should thank me."

"For what?" Vince asked. "Making me get a bruise the size of a golf ball?" He winced and rubbed his arm.

Ignoring him, Roxie peered back at Klaus and Caroline, tensing every time Caroline smiled or laughed. "But you're right about one thing," she said. "I hate her."

Gingerly, Vince stood up and led Roxie to the car, locking her in, and then went to see Klaus. "Roxie saw you," he said. "I just thought you should know."

"Roxie saw us?" Klaus asked. "Vince, you were supposed to keep her occupied!"

Vince nodded. "And I was doing a damn good job until you pulled up next to us on the road! Then Roxie saw! I couldn't just pretend like you weren't there. What was I supposed to say?"

"You could have thought of something, I'm sure," Klaus said.

"Am I in trouble?" Vince asked.

Klaus sighed. "I suppose not. I forgot how determined she is when she wants something. I should have known she'd figure me out, but I hoped it wouldn't be so soon."

"What's going on?" Caroline asked. "Did the Brat find out about us?"

Vince nodded. "Yeah," he said. He looked at Caroline. "And she doesn't like you very much. But don't worry, I'm sure I can stop her from doing anything _too_ horrible to you." He cleared his throat. "You two enjoy your lunch."

Once he was gone, Caroline looked at Klaus. "Was he kidding? About Roxie possibly doing horrible stuff to me?"

"Sadly no," Klaus shook his head. "But don't worry. Between him and me, we can handle her so you'll be safe."

He grinned and took her hand. "It'll be all right, I promise."

* * *

><p>When Elijah arrived back home, he ran to his and Selina's bedroom with Sam in tow, and heard a persistant banging coming from the other side of the bedroom door. He opened it and watched as Selina sprawled on the floor, half in the bedroom and half in the hallway. She was bruised, sweating and breathing hard.<p>

"What happend to you?" Elijah asked.

Selina sat up. "I've been trying to get out of this room," Selina said. "I thought my body weight would break down the door, so I've been trying that ever since I pulled the handle out."

"Are you serious?" He asked her. "Are you telling me that you've spent the last who knows how much time running against the door again and again in hopes of breaking it down because the knob broke off? Why didn't you just wait for me?"

"Because you're mean!" She said. "I can't believe you seduced me and then locked me in my room!" She glowered at him. "You suck."

"Well, if you think I'm such a bad person, then I suppose I can take Sam back to Damon's," Elijah said. "You probably don't want to see him much anyway." He turned and started to walk away, but Selina said, "Wait! I'm sorry! Thank you for getting Sam for me!"

Elijah turned. "You're welcome," he said, handing Sam over to Selina. "I should have gotten Lucy too, while I was there. But I didn't think of it."

"Oh, it's all right," Selina said. "She can stay one more day. What's the worst that could possibly happen?"

* * *

><p>"Looks like you took quite a beating," Helene said as Damon came back to the study. "What happened?"<p>

Damon shut his eyes tight. "None of your business," he said. "I didn't bring you here to make smart remarks."

"Why _did_ you bring me here?" Helene asked.

"You're a witch, right?" Damon asked.

Helene nodded. "Yeah, but-"

"All right then," Damon cut her off. "I need you to do a spell for me. I need you to cast a spell that will make Selina like me again."

Helene scoffed. "I won't, that's stupid! Besides I-"

"I don't care!" Damon interrupted her again. "Just do the damn spell!" He made to hit her, but never got the chance. She hit him with brain pain and as he was moaning on the ground, Helene muttered under her breath. Just as she cast the spell, however, a spell that would make Damon look the age he acted, Lucy, naked and giggling, toddled into the study, right in the spell's path. There was a boom, a scream and then a shower of light specks. When things were quiet again, Helene opened her eyes. "Oh, my god," she whispered.

"Did you do the spell?" Damon asked. "Did it work? What was that screaming?" He got up off the floor just as someone else struggled to do the same. A woman who was naked and willowy, with blue eyes and long blond hair. When she'd righted herself, she looked up at Damon and grinned, then ran and hugged him.

"Why is a naked blonde woman hugging me?" Damon asked. "Normally I wouldn't be opposed to that, but she wasn't here before!"

"I don't know!" Helene said. She walked around the woman and gasped. "Uh-oh."

"What?" Damon asked.

"I think I know who it is," Helene replied. "She's got a mark on the back of her leg just like Lucy does. It's exactly the same."

Damon held the young woman at arms' length. "Are you telling me this is _Lucy_?" He asked Helene.

Lucy clung to him and grinned. "Where's cookies?" She asked.

Sighing, Damon said, "Yep, it's Cookie Monster."


	12. Big Girls Don't Cry

"Now, wait a minute!" Damon said. "We don't know for a fact that is Lucy. We could just be assuming things. It could be a coincidence!"

"I don't think so," Helene said. "I think it really _is_ Lucy!"

Damon let the woman who was supposedly Lucy go and she walked unsteadily to a picture on study desk and picked it up. "Mom!" She said, waving the picture them.

Helene took the picture of Selina and showed it to Damon. "Does that answer your question?"

He nodded. "I guess. What do we do now?"

Helene shrugged. "I have no idea. I don't even know how this happened! Well, I do, actually. My magic is a bit on the unpredictable side these days when it comes to big spells. When I go to cast something, I never know what's gonna happen."

"Oh, and you couldn't have mentioned that before?" Damon asked.

"I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't let me!" Helene said. "And to top it all off, Adrian's going to realize that I'm missing and he'll be over here and..."

Just then, they heard a loud, persistant knocking on Damon's front door. "Well, look who's here!" Helene said. She narrowed her eyes at Damon. "Be prepared to explain yourself."

"Shouldn't we at least get Lucy some clothes before someone besides us comes in here?"

Helene sighed. "I suppose. Are there any around here?"

Damon nodded. "I still have some of Selina's stuff. She left clothes and other junk here that she hasn't taken from me yet."

"All right," Helene nodded. "You take Lucy with you and get those and I'll go answer the door."

"Right!" Damon nodded and let Lucy out of the study while Helene went to get the door. "Hi," she said to Adrian, who was on the other side looking perturbed. "How's it going?"

"Are you okay?" Adrian asked, charging into the house. "Where's he? I'll kill him! Did he hurt you?"

"No," Helene shook her head. "He didn't do anything to me so you shouldn't kill him. In fact, I did more damage than he did, so don't worry about it."

Adrian nodded. "Well, good for you. I think I can let it go this once then."

"Want to come in?" Helene asked.

"Sure," Adrian said. "You haven't been doing any big magic, have you? Remember, we don't know what will happen if you do."

"I had to do a little," Helene said. "But it was no biggie, really."

A few minutes later, Helene heard Damon coming down the stairs, but when he saw Adrian sitting next to Helene on the sofa, he sent Lucy back up again and came down alone. "I found what we needed," he said to Helene. "Cookie Monster's taken care of."

"Oh," Helene nodded. "That's good! Now we just need to decide what to do with him. Whether to send him to Selina's or if we should just keep him here..."

"I think I should keep him," Damon said. "I think if we sent him to Selina's, then Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird would find out and we'd be in trouble. _Especially_ if Cookie Monster's father Oscar the Grouch found out..."

Adrian turned to Helene. "What is he talking about?"

"Oh, he's decided to make up for kidnapping me by helping me out with a play I'm doing for the daycare," Helene said easily. "We're talking about the plot..."

"Sounds kind of ridiculous," Adrian said. "I've been forced to watch a lot of _Sesame Street _over the years and there is no way that Oscar the Grouch or Big Bird could be Cookie Monster's father."

"It's called creative license," Helene said. "Just go with it, would you? Now, we need to write some more, so you just go home and I'll see you tonight..." Helene began pushing Adrian toward the door. "Wait, wait, wait!" Adrian said. "What's the rush?" He paused. "Is something going on here?"

Helene shook her head. "Of course not! We just want to work on our play because like you said the plot is terrible and we have a lot of rewriting to do, and...oh, crap."

"What?" Adrian turned just in time to see Lucy coming down the stairs on her butt. When she'd reached the ground floor, she ran to Adrian and threw her arms around him. "I love you," she said. Adrian's eyes widened as he looked at Helene behind Lucy's back. "I don't know her, I swear! She just started hugging me!"

"You _do_ know her," Helene said and sighed. "That's Lucy."

"_What_?" Adrian held the young woman at arms' length and looked her over. The gray sweats she was wearing were a tad small on her, which made her chest and bottom more pronounced than they would ordinarily be. "This isn't Lucy! Lucy's two! This person has _boobs!"_

"So how do you want to make him believe us?" Damon asked.

"It really is her," Helene said. "I meant to cast a spell on Damon but Lucy must've got in the way of it so it hit her instead. It's not a joke. Do you think I would make something like this up?"

Adrian sighed. "No, I don't see any reason why. It's not like it would be a good laugh or anything." He sighed. "I'll probably end up being the one to tell Mom what happened."

"She _is_ closest to you," Helene agreed. "The only thing is, your dad and your uncle can't know about it, at least not yet, which creates another issue: the fact that _my_ dad can't know either, because if _he _knows, then he'll definitely tell your dad or your uncle and that's more trouble than it's worth." She paused, watching Lucy as she ambled toward the kitchen. "Lucy, honey," she called, "Stay in here with us where we can see you."

Lucy turned around and came back, pouting. "I want cookies."

Damon patted the empty spot next to him on the sofa and she sat there. "If you stay here like a good girl, I'll get you cookies, all right?"

Lucy nodded. "Okay."

"I think we need to do one more thing," Damon said, looking at Helene. "Can we make it so she...talks better? I don't know how else to phrase it. So that she talks more like a grown-up than a little kid? I mean, this is weird enough already. I'll have to be able to communicate with her if I'm going to take care of her when she's like this."

"When did we decide you were going to?" Adrian asked.

"Well, I just naturally assumed," Damon said. "I mean, we want to keep this a secret until we get it fixed, right?"

"I guess," Adrian nodded.

"Well, if she goes home to Selina's or stays with you, everyone and their mother will find out what happened. But if she stays with me, no one will because your mother hates me right now and your father and uncle and I don't talk, so they won't come by here and find out, so why not me?" Damon gave Adrian a look.

"He does have a point," Helene said.

"Fine," Adrian said. "But you better watch out for her and don't do anything stupid. Remember, she's still a little kid in her head."

"I raised her for the first six months of her life when your mom didn't want your dad to know that Sam wasn't his," Damon said, locking eyes with Adrian. "She's like a daughter to me already. If you think I'd let anything bad happen to her, you don't know how wrong you are."

"All right," Adrian said. "I just wanted to be sure."

"And as for Lucy's speech, we can ask my mom," Helene said. "I think there's a potion that she knows that would make Lucy easier to understand. She used to tell me that she used something like that on me when I was learning to talk. Really cut down on the frustration."

"Will it make Lucy Mensa-smart?" Damon asked.

Helene shook her head. "No, it'll just make it easier for her to articulate what she wants to say. She won't know a whole bunch of new stuff all of a sudden. You'll just feel like you're having a conversation with a grown up instead of a toddler, although she'll probably still like Barney, or whatever it is that she likes now. She'll maintain her little kid interests."

"And can we trust your mom?" Damon asked Helene. "Will she blab to your dad?"

"I think we'll be all right. Mom's not a blabbermouth," Helene assured him.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Adrian asked. "Let's go!"

* * *

><p>After Damon and Helene set off for Astrid's with Lucy, Adrian made his way back to his house and called Selina. "Hey Mom, would you come over? I have to talk to you about something."<p>

"What is it?" Selina asked. "What happened? Did somebody die?"

"Oh, no!" Adrian said quickly. "Nothing like that."

"Well, why can't you come over here and talk to me about it then?" Selina asked. "If it's nothing that bad?"

"Because Helene's gone and Rusty is in a bad mood and I don't want to leave him alone with the furniture," Adrian said. "Please come, please?"

Selina sighed. "Sure, I'll be right over."

Adrian hung up the phone and went to wait by the door until Selina arrived, and when she finally did, he said, "Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess," Selina said as he ushered her over to a sofa. "Now what did you want to talk to me about?" She noticed Rusty dozing under the coffee table. "He _does_ seem angry. I can't remember the last time I got that mad."

"I just needed to get you over here," Adrian said. "Now, I'm going to tell you something that might shock you, but you have to hear it. And you can't let Dad or Uncle Elijah know. At least not yet."

"Well, what is it?" Selina asked. "Honey, I lived through the Civil War for crying out loud. Very few things on this earth have the power to shock me anymore."

Just then, the door opened. "We're back!" Helene called. "Is your mom here yet, Adrian?"

"Yeah," Adrian called back. "And I was just about to tell her about the thing."

"What thing?" Selina asked. "The shocking thing? Bring it on. Just spit it out. I can handle it."

"All right," Adrian nodded. Damon, Lucy and Helene entered the room.

"I don't believe you!" Selina said to Damon. "Going after young women like that! You haven't learned anything, have you? And letting her borrow my _clothes_? Granted, that sweatsuit looked horrible on me, but it's much too small for her. You _would_ pick an outfit that would put emphasis on her butt and her boobs!"

"The outfit wasn't my fault," Damon said. "Lucy's clothes didn't fit anymore after Helene cast the spell that made Lucy grow up, and all I had at the house were yours. Apparently when she grows up, she's going to be taller than you, and again, I repeat, that is _not_ my fault!"

"Stop yelling!" Helene said as she watched Lucy curl herself into a ball. "I don't think Lucy likes that. Let's all be nice to each other."

Damon immediately turned away from Selina and got down on his knees to crawl over next to Lucy and put his arms around her. "It'll be okay," he said. "I didn't mean to yell, I'm sorry."

Lucy relaxed and put her face in his shoulder. After a moment, Selina sat next to them and looked up at Adrian. "So this really is Lucy?" She asked. "What happened?"

Helene sighed. "Well, as you know, I can't do really big magic right now, at least nothing that will work out the way it's supposed to. Damon asked me to come over to his house and help him out with something, and while I was doing that, Lucy got caught in the crossfire of a spell and it made her become older."

Selina moved some of Lucy's hair out of her face. "So is she going to be like this forever?"

Helene shook her head. "I don't think so. I'm just not sure how long it _will_ last."

"But until she gets back to normal, Damon's going to keep an eye on her because remember I said that it wouldn't be wise for Dad or Uncle Elijah to get wind of this?" Adrian said to Selina.

She nodded. "You're probably right about that. If she was at anybody else's house, one or the other of them would more than likely put two and two together. But what if either of them asks where Lucy is before she gets better? They won't just blindly accept that she fell off the face of the earth. We'll have to get their minds on something else, so they don't even think about Lucy," Selina said. "I could get Elijah to go away with me somewhere. That'll take some work, but I can manage."

"You're going to _talk_ to him?" Damon asked. "Why don't you just charge into his room, lock the door, rip off all your clothes and not come out for a week or so?"

"Because Elijah doesn't think that way," Selina said to him. "Not every man's brain works the same way yours does."

Damon just rolled his eyes and Lucy gave him a hug. "See?" He said. "At least someone here appreciates me."

"And on that note," Selina said, "I'm letting you take care of Lucy because there aren't a lot of other options open to us, but watch yourself. If you do anything bad, I _will_ deal with it."

"I already gave him that speech, Mom," Adrian said. "I think we'll be okay."

Selina nodded after a moment. "All right. I just wanted to make that clear."

"Well, you did," Damon said. "You can go now. I'm sure Elijah is keeping the bed warm for you."

"Oh, don't pout," Selina said to him, her hand on the doorknob of the front door. "You're not cute when you pout." And with that, she left Adrian's house and went back home.

* * *

><p>"Where's Lucy?" Elijah asked when he met her at the door. "You told me you were going to pick up Lucy."<p>

"I know I said that," Selina told him. "But when I got there, she was gone because Anna came and picked her up to take her for the next couple of days with the message that you and I should really spend some time in bed. Can you believe Anna would say something like that?"

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "I would. That _does_ sound like something she would say."

"Exactly," Selina said, attempting to push Elijah in the direction of the bedroom. "So what do you say we do as she suggests?"

But he wasn't budging of course. "Wait a minute," he said. "I haven't seen Lucy in a couple of days. I want to see her. I think I'll just go call Anna and tell her and Stefan we're planning to stop by."

"We can't stop by!" Selina said.

"Why not?" Elijah asked. "You told me that's where Lucy is, so why can't we stop by and visit her? Is something wrong?"

"Of course not!" Selina said. "Why would anything be wrong?" She giggled nervously.

"You're a terrible liar," he said. "Let's go." When Selina refused to go to the car with him, he picked her up and carried her, placing her in her seat and buckling up her belt for her before getting in the driver's seat and pulling out of the driveway.

* * *

><p>"So," Anna said to Stefan as they played darts in the basement, "who was on the phone?"<p>

"It was Selina," he replied, pausing to take a drink of whisky before putting his glass down and throwing a dart at the man they'd compelled to stand against the wall. He screamed as it stuck in his forehead. "She said there's something going on with Lucy that she doesn't want Elijah to know about, so if he calls looking for her, we're supposed to say that we have her and she's fine"

Anna threw a dart and it landed in the man's eye. She winced. "Wow. How many points was an eyeball shot again?"

"A thousand, I think. Or some large number." Stefan shrugged. "I don't really remember. What do you think's going on that Selina doesn't want Elijah to know about?"

"I hope she's not cheating on him," Anna said. "I went through enough to get those two together. I will not allow them to break up."

"If it was about them, then why bring Lucy into it?" Stefan asked.

Anna shrugged. "I don't know. Why don't you ask your brother? Isn't he in love with Lucy or something? Maybe he'll know."

Stefan sighed. "I wouldn't say he's in love with her, but there's definitely an unsually strong bond between the two of them. And you have a point. Maybe I'll just run over to his house and ask, just so we know what we're getting ourselves into. Oh, and Selina said something about Klaus too. That if Klaus asks about Lucy, we're supposed to distract him until she says we don't have to anymore."

"That's odd too," Anna said. "Anyway, if you find anything out at Damon's, let me know."

Stefan nodded. "And same thing if you go over to Klaus'. Or talk to him or anything."

"Good luck!" Anna called after she gave him a kiss. "Love you!"

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you," Selina said as she and Elijah drove toward Stefan and Anna's, "We don't need to go over there and see Lucy. She's <em>fine.<em>"

"If she was as fine as you say, then there would be no problem with me seeing her, would there?" Elijah stopped the car. "Now tell me what is going on right this minute!"

Selina sighed. "Oh, all right, sure we'll go to Anna and Stefan's if that'll make you feel better. I'll just call Anna right now and tell her that we're coming."

"That's what I wanted from the beginning, so what was all the fuss about?" Elijah asked as he watched Selina punch in Anna and Stefan's number.

"Well, you're hot, all right?" Selina said. "Can you blame me for not liking anything that would delay my getting my hands on you?"

Elijah grinned a little. "Well, I suppose I can't blame you for that." He ran his hand lightly down her thigh as she cleared her throat and started talking to Anna.

"Anna, it's Selina. Elijah wants to come over and see Lucy. Is it okay if we do that? He did? Awww, too bad."

Elijah's hand went still on her thigh. "What?" He said. "What happened?"

Selina took the phone away from her ear. "Apparently, Lucy and Stefan just went out."

"Well, isn't that convenient?" Elijah asked. "I want to see Lucy, you stall, and then when it seems like there might be a chance, Lucy is out of the way."

"Would you like to talk to Anna?" Selina asked, handing him the phone. "Would that make you feel better?"

Elijah held his hand out and Selina handed him the phone. "Anna, yes, hello. Please tell me why Selina is preventing me from seeing Lucy. You know, don't you?"

"I do, as a matter of fact," Anna said. "She wants you bad. And what is so wrong about giving her what she wants?"

"But I haven't seen Lucy in days," Elijah said. "Something could have happened to her. I'm concerned."

"Well, you don't need to be," Anna said. "We have her, and Stefan took her out and she's still her bubbly, perky self. I swear."

Elijah sighed. "Well, all right. I suppose if you say she's fine, then I'll leave it at that and see her at a later time."

"Good!" Anna said. "You and Selina have fun now. She probably bought new panties for the occasion and everything." Then she ended the conversation. Elijah hung up and gave Selina a look.

"There," Selina said. "You got your answer about Lucy. Do you feel better?"

"I suppose," Elijah said.

"Good," Selina said. "Then let's go home!" They drove home and ran inside, then raced up the stairs to the bedroom. He got there first and backed her up against the wall, kissing her hard, his hand going down her back and over her butt. She moaned and her hips bucked forward, then he eased her shorts down until they were around her ankles and peeled off her shirt. He looked her over. "You _did_ buy new panties," he whispered.

She grinned and kicked her shorts aside. "I knew you'd notice," she said. He picked her up and carried her over to the bed, laying her down on it, then undressing slowly as she watched, then got into bed with her and they rolled around. She put her arms around his neck and kissed down his neck, then took her other hand and ran it down his stomach, before he entered her and she moaned and yelled out his name. Afterward, he lay her back down, leaning over her. "How are you feeling?" He asked her.

She grinned. "_Wonderful_. Let's do it again!"

* * *

><p>"Damon?" Stefan called. "Where are you?" He looked around the house, but no one answered him. When he reached the kitchen, he saw that the refrigerator door was open and that someone was rummaging around inside it, probably Damon's girlfriend of the week. He could just see her bottom, but he cleared his throat. "Excuse me," he said to her. "Could you tell me where Damon went?"<p>

She stood up and gave him a grin. "He went to get popsicles. I told him I wanted some. He should be back in a little while, Uncle Stefan."

Stefan blinked. "Excuse me? What did you call me?"

"Uncle Stefan," she repeated. "What else am I supposed to call you?"

"That seems to be an awfully familiar nickname for someone I haven't even met properly," Stefan said. "Who are you?"

The woman shut the refrigerator door and he got a better look at her. Her blonde hair was in a French braid and she wore jean shorts and a white and pink plaid button down shirt with a pair of pink flats. "You know me," she said. "I'm Lucy."

Stefan stared at her in stunned silence for a moment before bursting into laughter. "No, seriously," he said when he got his breath back. "Who are you, really?"

"I'm Lucy," she repeated. "Why don't you _believe_ me?"

"Because my niece Lucy is only two years old and you're...not." Stefan said, looking her up and down. If he was going to be completely honest, she _was _pretty. In a purely aesthetic sense of course.

"Well, look who's here!" Damon came into the kitchen, carrying two grocery bags. "Stefan, I see you've seen Lucy."

"Why would you hire someone to pretend to be Lucy when she's older?" Stefan asked him. "I knew that whatever was going on between the two of you was sick!"

Lucy gave Damon a look. "He doesn't believe me," she said. "Can I have a popsicle?"

Damon took out the box of popsicles and handed her one. She unwrapped it and sat down at the kitchen table, licking it slowly.

"Oh, my god," Damon said. Stefan turned and saw that Damon's eyes were locked on Lucy. He elbowed Damon in the gut.

"What was that for?" Damon asked.

"Stop looking at her like that!" Stefan said.

"You wouldn't say that unless you actually _believed _that she was Lucy," Damon said. "Do you?"

Stefan shrugged. "I don't know. How is it possible?"

"She got in the way of a spell cast by a witch whose magic is on the fritz," Damon said. "That's the absolute truth. We don't know how long she's going to be like this, but it won't be forever."

"And Selina left her in _your_ care?" Stefan asked. "Has she lost her mind?"

"Well, she couldn't go anywhere else," Damon said. "Selina doesn't want Elijah and Klaus to know what happened, and this is the one place where the two of them hardly ever go. And by the way, since you and Klaus are buddies now, you shouldn't breath a word of this to him."

Stefan blinked. "Oh, don't worry. I want to forget I ever saw this. I definitely wouldn't want to trouble anyone else with it."

"Good," Damon said.

"Are you going already?" Lucy said to Stefan. "You can stay. Have a popsicle."

Stefan shook his head. "No, thanks. You go ahead and enjoy." He darted out of the house, got in his car and drove home with his foot on the gas pedal.

* * *

><p>"Dad?" Adrian said. "Are you here?"<p>

"Yes," Klaus said. "Adrian, what brings you here? This is a surprise."

"I came because we hadn't talked in awhile and I wondered what was up," Adrian said. "What's new in your life?"

Klaus sighed. "Well, I have a new girlfriend." He paused. "Well, perhaps that's an optimistic term for her, but she's a woman who isn't your mother that I've gone out with a couple of times. Are you all right with that?"

"Yeah," Adrian nodded. "Sure. Why? Did Roxie not take the news well?"

"Actually, I was hoping to hold off the conversation with her until much later, but she found out. She followed me and Caroline to the restaurant where we were having lunch. I thought my plan was fullproof. I thought for sure she would be distracted."

"What did you do?" Adrian asked.

"I told Vince to take her to the movie she and I were supposed to see while I took out Caroline," he said. "I figured she would prefer to go with him. Apparently, I was wrong."

"I think she would have taken it better if you hadn't lied to her about it," Adrian said. "If you would have just told her 'I have a girlfriend now and want to take her to lunch, wouldn't you rather see the movie with Vince?' She might have taken it a lot better than she apparently has. So has Roxie actually met Caroline face to face?"

Klaus shook his head. "No."

Adrian grinned. "Can I be there when she does?"

Klaus frowned at him. "That's not helpful, Adrian. Think of something helpful." He sighed. "I wish Lucy was here. Lucy _loves_ Caroline."

"Well, she isn't," Adrian said. "So we have to focus on the problem at hand. I'll help you. But it will require every ounce of your focus. You can't even be thinking about anything else: not Mom, not Lucy, nothing. Can you do that?"

Klaus nodded. "I suppose. How do we start?"

"Well for starters," Adrian said, "How about _I _meet Caroline, so I know what I'm dealing with. Can we arrange that?"

Klaus nodded. "Well, sure."

About half an hour later, there was a knock on the front door. "That's her," Klaus said. "Would you go and answer the door, Adrian?"

Adrian got up. "Sure," he said. He opened the door. "So where's this guy you wanted me to meet?" Caroline asked as she strode in, not noticing Adrian at all.

"You just missed him," Klaus said. "Turn around." Caroline turned and saw Adrian, who had his had on the door. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I'm Caroline. Who are you?"

Adrian grinned and shook her hand. "I'm Adrian," he said. "Nice to meet you, Caroline."

"This is my son," Klaus said to her. "He says he'll help us with Roxie. I'd believe him. He's the only person I know who can handle her as well as me."

* * *

><p>That night around eight, Damon picked Lucy up from the sofa. She yawned. "I think you need to go to bed," he said. "You look sleepy."<p>

She shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "I'm not sleepy."

He carried her to a bed and tucked her in. "Good night, Lucy," he said, leaving the door open a crack.

"Don't go yet!" Lucy said. "We have to play the tickle game!"

"No," Damon shook his head. "We aren't playing the tickle game."

"Why not?" Lucy asked.

"Because I'm too tired," Damon said.

Lucy sat up and took off her top, throwing it on the floor. "Will you at least blow on my tummy? You always do that."

He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't look away from her beautiful body. He walked slowly toward the bed, got down on his knees, reached his hand out, and then at the last second, managed to look away and hand her her shirt. "Put this on," he ordered. "And go to sleep!"

"No!" Lucy said. "Not until we play the tickle game!"

"We're _not_ playing that!" Damon growled. "Put your shirt on and go to sleep!"

Suddenly, Lucy's lip began to quiver and she burst into tears. "You're yelling at me!" She whimpered. "You don't love me anymore!"

He looked her in the eye. "I do. I'm just tired. If I don't get enough sleep, I get cranky. Do you understand?"

She sniffled. "Yes."

"Isn't there any other way you can think of to get to sleep? I mean, your mother doesn't play the tickle game."

Lucy brightened. "I got an idea!" She got out of bed and Damon followed her to the kitchen. She rummaged around in the fridge and resurfaced clutching a beer. "Open this, please," she said to Damon.

"No," Damon said. "You don't get to have beer. Why would you want that?" He took it away from her.

Lucy smiled. "Cause Daddy drinks it sometimes and it makes him sleepy. Would it make _me _sleepy too?"

Damon nodded. "Perhaps, but it's icky. You wouldn't like it."

"Can I sleep with you?" She asked him.

Damon choked on his spit and started coughing. "Don't ever ask me that!" He said. "Go to bed, please. Just go to bed!"

Lucy pouted and headed off to bed. He tucked her in and turned off her light. Everything was quiet until he heard a thump and a scream. He ran into Lucy's bedroom and turned on her light. He found her on the floor, sobbing.

"What happened?" He asked, getting down beside her and putting his arms around her.

"I hit my head," she sobbed. "Will you kiss it and make it better?"

He sighed. "If I do, will you go to sleep?"

She nodded. "Okay."

He put a hand under her chin and lightly kissed her on the lips. When they pulled apart, she giggled. "That's like how Mom and Dad kiss."

"All right," Damon said. "You told me if I kissed you, you'd go to sleep."

She nodded. He tucked her in and then shut off her light. "Goodnight, Lucy," he said.

She grinned at him. "Goodnight, Damon."


	13. The Bad Side Of Me

"Why are you in a mood today?" Vince asked Roxie as he wiped down the glasses and placed them in the cabinet. "Still upset about your dad's new girlfriend?"

Roxie growled. "Don't you call her that! For all we know this could just be a passing thing that won't even last very long."

"And what if it _does _last?" Vince asked. "What if they get married and you have to see her every Thanksgiving for the rest of time?"

Roxie grinned. "Not gonna happen. Grandma has to approve all guests before they enter her house and let me tell you something: she will_ not _approve of that barbie-wannabe."

"How can you hate someone you never even met?" Vince asked. "You might like her if you give her a chance."

Roxie shook her head. "I won't. I won't, I won't! But at least I don't have to worry about Dad bringing her here. He wouldn't dare."

Vince looked up as Klaus, Adrian and Caroline entered the bar. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," he said to Roxie. "Look who just walked in the door."

Roxie's jaw dropped. "He did it!" She stomped her foot. "I can't believe he did it!"

"Be nice," Vince said as Adrian approached the bar.

Roxie plastered a fake smile on and greeted her brother. "So what did Dad bring the tramp to the bar for?" She asked.

"To meet _you,_" Adrian said. "Now come on!"

"No!" Roxie struggled as Adrian tried to pull her toward the table where Klaus and Caroline were sitting. "I don't want to! This is stupid!"

Adrian scoffed. "Fine," he said, letting her go. "Stay there! But you'll have to meet her eventually." His lip curled and he shook his head, walking back to the table alone.

"So she's not coming?" Klaus asked.

Adrian shook his head. "Of course not. But it's not like we thought she'd make it easy for us."

"Maybe if you told her I was friends with Selina, then she'd warm up to me," Caroline said. "Have you tried that?"

Adrian shook his head. "No, and if you want her to like you, don't emphasize your good relationship with Mom. It'll count against you 'cause Roxie thinks Mom is lame."

"Oh, really? Why?" Caroline asked.

"They've never really been close," Adrian said. He looked at his father. "Isn't that right?" he asked. "Or have I missed something?"

Klaus shook his head. "No, no. You're correct. But I don't think that Roxanne's objections have anything to do with Selina. Roxie's been in a sour mood ever since Lucy came along."

"You mean ever since Lucy came along and you started paying more attention to her than you did to Roxie," Adrian corrected him. "I think Roxie's just being spiteful now."

"Well, that is just ridiculous," Klaus said. "She had her chance for my attention, but she left home when she was six years old and I didn't hear a word from her! Can she blame me for wanting to move on like she did?"

"Roxie left home for ten years?" Caroline asked.

Klaus nodded. "She and I were very close before that. Selina would always say it was like we were glued at the hip. But then things went wrong."

"How about you try talking to her?" Caroline suggested. "Maybe if you told her how it made you feel when she left home, then she'll understand where you're coming from and things will be better between the two of you."

"Or at least you might get her to come out from behind the bar," Adrian finished.

Klaus stood up and rolled his eyes, striding purposefully toward his daughter.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked her when he sat down on a bar stool.

Roxie shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Adrian says you don't want to come over and meet Caroline," he said. "Why not? Adrian didn't have a problem with it."

Roxie locked eyes with him. "Of course _he _wouldn't. Adrian gets along with _everybody_. And everybody gets along with him. Isn't he _lucky_?" On the last word, she took an empty glass from one side of the bar and slammed it down on the middle, causing it to shatter.

"There's no reason for this!" Klaus said to her. "I know you're upset because your mother and I aren't together anymore, and frankly I am too, but we have to move on. I did. You have to accept it."

Roxie smirked. "No, you haven't! You're always gonna like Mom! This woman is just around so that you have someone to screw. You don't really like her. How could you? You hardly know her at all!"

Klaus nodded. "I realize that. But I _want_ to get to know her. And that means I will have to spend time with her. And you might be around during some of that time. If you believe you're sticking up for your mother, she's all right with this. In fact, Caroline is her friend."

Roxie nodded. "I knew that. Mom told me when I first found out about you and Caroline and told her."

"So what's to worry about if you aren't worried for your mother's sake?" Klaus asked.

"Well, what about _me_?" Roxie asked. "I've stuck by you for years. I've seen your worst and did I ever tell you to change? No, I didn't! And it's like you don't even acknowledge that! There's always someone cuter or prettier that comes along that supposedly deserves more attention than me!"

"Why did you leave for ten years without a word?" Klaus asked her. "I wrote you every day hoping for a response, but I got nothing. What do you think that told me about how much _you_ valued _our_ relationship?"

"You tried to kill my _friend_!" Roxie said. "I was six years old! Can you imagine how traumatizing it was to know that my father wanted to kill my friend when I was six years old? It takes time to get over something like that. In my case, it took ten years!"

"And yet, this time when I actually _did _turn him, you're over it in less than five and begging for a reconciliation," Klaus said. "You amaze me with how fickle you are, Roxanne."

Roxie shook her head. "I'm _not_, okay? Back then, we all were okay. You and Mom were together and we were a family: you and me and Mom and Adrian. Now you and Mom are all broken up and with other people and I just, I need someone to tell me everything is going to be okay." She looked at Klaus appealingly.

"Of course it is," he said. "The only person who thinks it won't be is you. It will take some adjustment though. But you can do that, right?"

Roxie sighed. "I suppose."

Vince watched Roxie and Klaus for a moment, then went to find Charlie and Tony who were playing poker in one of the back rooms. "Come with me, would you?" Vince asked Charlie.

"Why?" She asked. "What did Roxie do now?"

"She hasn't done anything yet, but I have a feeling she might unless you distract her."

"Why can't you do it?" Charlie asked. "You have much better distractions at your disposal than I do."

"Roxie's dad has a new girlfriend," Vince said through his teeth. "Roxie found out and she's not taking it well _at all_. So will you come?"

Charlie sighed. "Oh, all right." She followed Vince out into the main room and tapped Roxie on the shoulder. "Vince told me what's going on," she said. "Wanna talk about it?" Roxie nodded.

"All right," Charlie said. "Tony's at one of the poker tables in the there and wait for me and we'll talk, all right?"

Roxie nodded. "Thank you, Charlie." She left and Charlie turned back to Klaus.

"Thank you, Charlotte," he said to her. "It gets more and more difficult to talk to her every day."

"So where is she?" Charlie asked him. "Your girlfriend, I mean?"

"Over at that table next to Adrian," Klaus gestured and Charlie's eyes widened. "Oh, boy. You're a brave man bringing a woman like that here."

"I knew that there would be some risk, but I thought it would be best to have Roxanne and Caroline get to know each other sooner rather then later," Klaus said.

"Have I told you about my mom?" Charlie asked him. "About why I grew up here at Enid's instead of in a normal home?"

Klaus shook his head. "No. Well, didn't your mother try to kill you?"

Charlie nodded. "But also, after that, my parents split up and my dad got a new girlfriend. He tried to introduce her to my mom so that they could be you know, friendly for my sake, but Mom killed her. And his next girlfriend, and his girlfriend after that. Until Dad finally just gave up, you know? Last time I saw him was at my wedding. I haven't heard from him since."

"Do you really think that Roxanne would be so petty as to threaten the life of anyone I become involved with?" Klaus asked her.

Charlie shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe not. But you should keep the possibility in the back of your mind. Will you?"

Klaus nodded and got up from the bar and Roxie went to the back room, but found that Roxie wasn't there. "Where'd she go?" Charlie asked Tony and Vince who'd started another poker game.

Tony shrugged. "I don't know. She just said she had to leave. She didn't say where she was going."

Charlie sighed. "Wonderful. I'm gonna go look for her. Who knows when I'll be back."

* * *

><p>"So how did things go last night?" Selina asked Damon. "Did things go okay?"<p>

Damon nodded. "Yeah, fine. She slept through the night and we watched TV this morning. I have to ask, I have a meeting of my single parents' group today. Is it all right if I take her? I promise I'll watch her like a hawk."

Selina nodded. "Sure, why not." She hung up the phone and took a deep breath. She was glad that Damon had gotten Lucy back safely, but that was the least of her problems. She left the kitchen and went to the library, where Elijah was seated at the desk, leafing through a folder. "Still looking at the stories, I see," Selina said.  
>Elijah shut the folder. "That's not what's in the folder. It's just papers connected to a project I'm working on with Aleksandr."<br>"Really?" Selina asked, sitting on the desk. "I wasn't even aware the two of you talked anymore."  
>Elijah nodded. "Well, we do. Now I have a meeting to go to. I don't know when I'll be back. I might not even be back tonight, but I trust you can entertain yourself until I return?"<br>Selina nodded. "Of course I can."  
>He kissed her. "All right," he said. "I'll see you later tonight hopefully, and if I have to stay out longer, I'll call and let you know."<br>"All right," Selina said. "Good luck with whatever it is you're doing."  
>He said goodbye one last time, and as he strode out of the library, a scrap of paper fell from the folder and onto the library floor. Elijah was gone by the time Selina noticed it, and she figured he wouldn't want to be called back just for a scrap of paper. She picked it up and gasped. It was a newspaper article, and the title was in bold print: <strong>Lonely Heart Strikes Again<strong>!

"Oh, shit," she whispered. "This isn't good." She slid the article carefully into her purse and left the house, heading for Klaus', and when she reached it, Alistair opened the front door, grinning. "Not practicing any speeches today?" He asked her.

"There's no time, Alistair," Selina said. "Can I just come in?"

Alistair nodded. "Of course, but why? You aren't having any relapses, are you?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "of course not! Don't be sick." She took the article out of her purse and handed it to him. He looked it over and then looked back at her. "Where did you get this?" He asked her. "Don't tell me you've started collecting clippings about your killings."

"No!" Selina shook her head. "It was in a folder that Elijah had with him. He took it when he left the house. What if there are more articles about me in the folder? What if he finds out that Lonely Heart and me are the same person? You know how moral he is! Him finding out about me will be the death knell of the only decent relationship I've ever had!"

"All right, all right," Alistair told her. "Calm down. We could be worrying over nothing. This _could_ very well be the only article of its kind in that folder. Think of it that way. That'll help stem the worry."

"Yeah," Selina took a deep breath. "That's right. It's the only article like it in the folder. Elijah won't find out that I killed a whole bunch of people, or any of the _other_ stuff. Truthfully, it's the other stuff I'm worried about more."

"Well, why don't you sit down and I'll bring you a drink and we'll get this all figured out?" Alistair said. Selina nodded. "Thanks."

When they reached the kitchen, Selina saw Caroline sitting at the table with an ice pack on her head. "What's wrong with you?" Selina asked her.

"Adrian and Klaus took me to this bar cause they wanted me to meet your daughter and everything just went to hell," Caroline replied. "And how has _your_ day been going?"

"I've had better...I've had worse, I'll live," Selina replied. "Even if the best relationship I've ever had in my life goes to hell as well."

"Aww, what happened?" Klaus asked as he walked into the kitchen and Alistair placed a can of pop in front of her. "Trouble already?"

Ignoring him, Selina took the article out of her purse and handed it to him. "Elijah had a folder with this article in it."

Klaus clicked his tongue. "A man's head was found dangling outside the bedroom that he and his wife shared just outside of the Rue de Fleur. His body, however, was nowhere to be found. When police went inside, they found the body of his wife tucked neatly into bed, strangled with a pair of dance tights, which were stained with blood from her cut throat. On the wall were the words 'Til death do us part'."

Caroline shuddered. "That's _horrible. _Who would _do_ something like that?"

"Me," Selina said. "I had a dark period. A _very_ dark period. It's not something I'm proud of, or something that's going to happen again. I just want to forget it and move on with my life."

"And you're afraid to tell your new boyfriend because you aren't sure how he'll react?" Caroline asked.

"No," Selina shook her head. "I _know_ how he'll react. That's why I'm scared to tell him."

"My brother is a very moral person," Klaus told Caroline. "He doesn't do well with people who kill, lie, cheat, steal, basically anything fun." He gave Selina a look. "Frankly, I'd have thought you'd be bored by now, but to each his own."

"What happened with Roxie?" Selina asked him. "I take it things didn't go well?"

"No," Klaus shook his head. "Roxanne still thinks that we're going to be together again. I tried to tell her it wouldn't happen, but..." He sighed. "She ran away from the bar and never came back to finish her shift. Charlotte's been looking for her, but hasn't found anything and Vince is out looking too."

Selina sighed. "Don't worry too much. She just needs to blow off some steam and she'll show up tomorrow demanding breakfast like nomal and everything will be okay."

"Do you think she'll try to hurt me?" Caroline asked Selina.

"I don't know," Selina told her. "I wish I could give you a better answer, but I can't."

* * *

><p>Damon looked at his watch, and then back at Lucy. "I have to go somewhere," he told her. "Wanna come with me?"<p>

"Sure!" She nodded. "Where are we going?"

"I have to meet with some people," he said. "Some friends of mine. They'll love you." She followed him out to his car like a baby duck following its mother, and three stoplights and a short traffic jam later, they reached a tall red brick building. Damon parked in the parking lot and led Lucy inside, to a room labeled "Parents Without Partners." He opened the door and brought Lucy inside. The room was sparsely decorated, except for a circle of brown metal folding chairs. A few other people waved.

"Did you hear about Wendy?" A woman asked Damon as he sat down. "It seems she's dead! Did you know that?"

Damon nodded. "And what about Allison? Will she be all right?"

The woman nodded. "She's living with her grandmother."

Damon breathed a sigh of relief. "Good."

"Who's that?" One of the fathers asked, pointing to Lucy.

"She's a friend of mine," Damon said. "A single mom with a loser boyfriend. I thought I'd bring her along."

A woman put her hand on Lucy's arm. "Teenage pregnancy? What a shame. Everything will be all right, dear."

Just then, the door opened again, and another man entered. Damon tensed. The man came to stand in front of him and smirked. "Fancy meeting you here," he said.

"I've been here awhile," Damon told him. "When did you get here, Aleksandr?"

Aleksandr looked thoughtful. "I just joined last week. Me and my daughter Mary Anne are new to the area." He looked at Lucy. "You seem familar," he said to her. "Have we met before?"

"Just a minute," Damon said. "Excuse us, would you?" He led Lucy out of the room and into the hallway. "Don't talk to him," he ordered. "He is a bad man!"

"Who is it?" Lucy asked.

"That's your uncle," Damon said. "Your father's brother. He married your mother and then left her alone and very sad."

"You mean like you did?" Lucy asked immediately.

"That was different," Damon said. "If I hadn't left your mom, you wouldn't exist. The point is, you do not tell him who you are, all right?"

Lucy nodded. "Okay."

They went back into the room and Aleksandr came up to them again. "So, where have we met?"

Lucy shrugged. "I don't know."

"Maybe you haven't," Damon added.

"Oh, well in that case," he said. "I'm Aleksander Mikaelson." He gestured for a girl to come forward. "And this is my daughter Mary Anne."

The dark eyed girl gave them a stoic look from under heavy dark lashes. "You sorta look like Sera," she said. She looked at Aleksandr. "Doesn't she look like Sera?"

"Who's Sera?" Damon asked. But before Mary Anne could reply, the last person arrived and the meeting began. After it was all over, Aleksandr met with Damon and Lucy in the parking lot. "It was nice meeting you," he said to them. "Perhaps the two of you could come and visit sometime."

"Maybe," Damon said. "Or not. We might be busy."

"If that was the case, it wouldn't be a real loss to me," Aleksandr replied. "I was just trying to be polite." He turned his back on Damon and herded Mary Anne away.

"Are we going home now?" Lucy asked as soon as they were gone.

Damon nodded. "Yes, we're going home."

* * *

><p>"Elijah!" Aleksandr said in surprise when he found him sitting with Mikael in the study. "What brings you here?"<p>

"More research on Lonely Heart," Elijah said. "I've been studying the articles you gave me and she _does_ seem to have a distinctive killing pattern."

"Tell him about the murder of the couple on the cruise ship," Aleksandr said to his father.

"Oh, you don't have to," Elijah said. "I read the article and I was there when it happened."

Mikael's eyes widened. "What?" he asked. "Did you see anything?"

"Lonely Heart didn't commit the cruise ship murders," Elijah said. "I know who did."

Mikael leaned forward. "Well, who was it? Go on. You can tell us."

"It was the woman I'm seeing, Selina," Elijah said after a deep breath. "She hadn't eaten for awhile and that couple was the first blood source she'd come across. That's all. Nothing nefarious about it."

"How can you be sure?" Mikael asked. "The killings are very similar. Even if she's not Lonely Heart, she could be looking to emulate Lonely Heart's methods."

"I don't think so," Aleksandr said. "I know her too, Selina, and she'd never hurt a fly."


	14. I Got My Baby Back

"How come you and my uncle don't like each other?" Lucy asked Damon as she sat at the kitchen table with a plateful of chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk. She dipped a cookie in the milk and took a bite. "Is it because of Mom?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Damon said without looking at her. She swallowed and opened her mouth. "All gone. See?"

Damon looked up at her. "Very good. And yes, what is between your uncle and me _is_ about your mom. He seems to think I ruined her or something, that I drove her to drinking. But she was drinking _long _before she met him."

"Why?" Lucy asked. "Did she have trouble sleeping too?"

Damon shook his head. "No. It wasn't that. How about you eat your cookies and then we'll watch a movie, okay?"

Lucy nodded. "Okay." She picked up another cookie, but then knocked her milk with her arm as she brought the cookie to her lips. The milk splattered all over her blouse and shorts. She looked up at him sheepishly. "Oopsie," she said. "I made a mess."

Damon sighed. "Are you serious? Did you have to do that?"

"I didn't mean to," Lucy said. "The milk just fell over!"

"I'm guessing you can't dress yourself," Damon continued. "I'm going to have to help you, aren't I?"

"I could try," Lucy said. "I can do it!" She scampered off and Damon collapsed on the sofa. "Well, that's a relief," he said to himself. A few minutes later, Lucy returned. She was wearing a blue bathing suit under a lime green cardigan and a yellow skirt. "I'm dressed!" She said. Her hair was held back with a bright pink headband that sat lopsided on her head.

Damon tried not to laugh as he looked her over. "You look nice," he said.

She smiled. "Thank you!" She twirled.

"You look nice," he said, "but you can't wear a bathing suit as clothes."

Lucy stopped twirling and pouted. "Why not?"

He got down on his knees. "Because bathing suits are for swimming. Do you want me to come with you and help you pick out some clothes?"

She nodded. "Okay. I didn't even like this skirt anyways." And before Damon had time to mentally prepare himself, she pushed it down and kicked it away. Then she threw off the cardigan and was about to peel off the bathing suit when Damon said, "Wait. Don't take that off until you get to your room."

"Why?" Lucy asked.

"Because I don't want you to be cold," Damon said.

Lucy shook her head. "I'm not." She peeled off her bathing suit and stood naked in front of him. "Let's go to my room," she said. And without waiting for him to respond, she turned on her heel and strode away from him. About halfway down the hallway, she realized he wasn't following her and turned around. "Aren't you coming?" She asked.

Damon's eyes were closed now. "I will," he said. "In a minute. I have to make a phone call first."

* * *

><p>Stefan looked up as Anna came out onto the deck and handed the phone to him. "It's your brother," she said. "Apparently, he's having a crisis."<p>

Stefan took the phone. "Damon, what is it?" He asked. "Is everything okay? How's Lucy?"

"She's a mess," Damon replied. "Or she _was._ She was eating milk and cookies, she spilled her milk all over her clothes and now she wants me to help her change. In her bedroom. Stefan, she's _naked._ What should I do?"

"Wait for Anna and me," Stefan said. "Don't do anything until we get there."

"All right," Damon said. "I'll be seeing you. And Stefan? Please hurry."

Stefan assured him that he would and ended the call, only to have it ring again almost immediately. "What can I do for you?" Stefan said.

"I have a problem," Selina said. "Stefan, I really need you and Anna over at Elijah's right now!"

"Well, what happened?" Stefan asked. "Whatever it is, it can't be as bad as what Damon's going through right now."

"What?" Selina asked. "Problems with Lucy?"

"Apparently she spilled milk and needs Damon to help her change her clothes," Stefan said. "What's _your_ problem?"

"Well, I think Elijah might know about my past as Lonely Heart," Selina said. "And if he doesn't, he will soon."

"So?" Stefan said. "What's so bad about that?"

"Well, he's not gonna like it, is he?" Selina cried. "He's gonna hate me and break up with me and it'll be the end of the first decent relationship I've ever had!"

"Oh, I'm sure you're exaggerating," Stefan said. "You can deal with this on your own. You don't need my help. I'm sure every fiber of your motherly being wants me to run over to Damon's and protect your daughter."

Selina sighed. "I suppose. Yes, fine, go ahead."

"Who is it?" Anna asked Stefan. "Is it Damon again? And what _about_ Lucy?'

Stefan took the phone away from his ear. "It's Selina," he said. "She thinks Elijah knows or will soon know that she was Lonely Heart and it's freaking her out."

"Well, I don't blame her," Anna said. "Give me the phone."

Stefan handed her the phone and she put it to her ear. "Are you all right?" Anna asked her. "What happened?"

"I don't _know_," Selina told her. "I saw him this morning and he said he was going to be out all day because he was working on a project with Aleksandr. He left carrying this briefcase full of papers and on his way out the door, a scrap of paper fell out of the briefcase, but he didn't notice. I picked it up and read it and it was an article about one of my Lonely Heart killings, the one where I dangled the guy's head outside the bedroom window! What if the briefcase had articles about all the _other_ murders in it? What if Elijah finds out what I did? He'll dump me for sure!"

"Not if we don't find the briefcase and take it away from him before he has the opportunity to put two and two together," Anna said.

The other end of the line was quiet before Selina finally said, "You think?"

"I don't think," Anna said. "I _know_. I'll be there as soon as I can to help you with it."

"There's no rush," Selina said. "Elijah has the briefcase now and he's not even home yet. I'll call you when he gets here."

"Or better yet, why don't I come with you and we can wait for him together?" Anna said. "Where are you now?"

"I'm at Nicky's," Selina said. "But I was just leaving."

Anna nodded. "All right. I'll see you in a bit." She ended the call and put the phone down on the deck table. "So, what did Damon want?" She asked. "And you _didn't _answer my question about Lucy."

"You're not gonna belive this," Stefan said. "But Lucy's a little different now. Apparently, Damon kidnapped a witch to get her to do a spell that would make Selina fall in love with him again, but the witch's magic was on the fritz, she did a spell, and Lucy accidently got in the way of it, so it hit her and turned her into a fully developed teenager. Damon assured me that it won't last forever, but that's how things are now. And you have to keep that a secret from Klaus and Elijah. They aren't allowed to know."

"Well I can see _why_," Anna said. "A teenage Lucy in the same house as your reluctantly single Lothario of a brother? It would drove both Nick and Elijah ballistic if they knew!"

"But you won't tell them?" Stefan said.

Anna shook her head. "No, I'll keep it quiet. I'll probably be too busy helping Selina to talk to Nick or Elijah anyway."

Stefan nodded. "So you'll go over and help Selina and I'll go over and help Damon. That works." He scoffed. "What would they do with out us?" He said. "I mean _really_?"

* * *

><p>"What <em>took <em>you so long?" Damon asked after he ushered Stefan inside. "I've been waiting forever!" He paused. "And where's Anna? I wanted her to come too! She was the one I needed here the most!"

"Why?" Stefan asked. "Between the two of us, we can handle this. We don't need Anna. Besides, she desperately needed to help Selina handle her lastest romantic emergency with Elijah, because it will just _kill_ her if Selina and Elijah break up." He rolled his eyes. "So where's Lucy?"

"I locked her in her bedroom," Damon said, leading him to the door of the room Lucy was using. "Before we go in, I should warn you that she _is_ naked at the moment. I know I told you that on the phone, but it's a bit of a shock to see, even if you know it's coming."

Stefan took a deep breath. "I'll go in first," he said. "You follow me." Damon nodded and Stefan opened the door and strode into the bedroom.

"Hi!" Lucy said brightly. "What took you so long? I was lonely in here!"

"Oh, my god," Stefan said, stopping so quickly that Damon bumped into him from behind.

"I know," Damon whispered. "She's something else, isn't she?"

Stefan shook his head. "Damon, look up! I think we have a problem."

Damon looked up and his eyes widened. "We certainly do," he said. Lucy was sitting naked on her bed with a black permanent marker in her hand. She'd drawn at least a little something on every part of her body.

After a moment, Stefan tiptoed toward the bed and held his hand out. "Lucy, how about you give me the marker now?"

Lucy shook her head and held it out of his grasp. "No!" She said. "It makes me _pretty_!"

Stefan shook his head and held out his hand. "Lucy, give me the marker!" He grabbed the edge of it and started pulling, but her grip was pretty strong. Finally though, he manged to get it away from her. Her lip trembled and she let out a steam engine wail.

"Good job, Stefan!" Damon said. "You made her cry!"

"Oh, who cares?" Stefan said. "Pick her up so we can get her into the bath and get the marker off. I'll go run the water."

"Oh, I don't _think_ so!" Damon said. "_You_ get her into the bath and _I'll_ run the water!"

"Who cares who does what just as long as we do it while she's distracted!" Stefan said. He found a bathrobe in the bedroom closet and put it on her so that she was covered up and then half-dragged, half-carried her to the bathroom. By the time they got there, the bathtub was filling up.

As Lucy continued to sob, Stefan looked at Damon. "Shut your eyes," he ordered. Once he was sure Damon's eyes were closed, he untied the bathrobe and took it off, then attempted to get a resistent Lucy into the tub.

"This is more difficult than when we tried to wash Spot that day Father was out of town," Stefan said. Lucy scratched and kicked, but he and Damon finally succeeded. Lucy looked at them balefully and splashed some water in their direction. Stefan managed to avoid it, but it hit Damon's shirt, soaking it.

"Well, that's not very nice," he said.

"I want out!" Lucy said.

"Not until all the marker is off of you," Stefan said. "Damon, get me a loofah or a sponge or something, would you?"

Damon nodded and turned his back on them, rooting around in the cabinets under the sink before he finally managed to come up with a small pink loofah. "Here," he said. "Good luck." Then he was out of the bathroom like a shot. He went to the living room and sat down with the paper, thinking for the first time that he couldn't _wait_ for Lucy to be a little again. She was so much more cheerful as a baby.

* * *

><p>An hour or so later, Damon heard a noise and looked up. Stefan and Lucy were standing before him and Lucy was wearing a simple light blue dress.<p>

"Damon, Lucy has something she'd like to say to you," Stefan said and gave Lucy a gentle push in Damon's direction. She came toward him and climbed up next to him on the sofa. "I'm sorry I splashed you," she said. "Baths are funner when you do them with me. Maybe next time." She ran her foot over his leg. "This bath just hurt, see?"

Damon took the arm she offered. "My god," he said to Stefan. "Her skin's all raw. What did you _do_?"

"That was permanent marker she had on her," Stefan said. "I really had to scrub and even then, there was still a tinge left."

"Why didn't you just let me be pretty?" Lucy asked Stefan.

"Because your mother wouldn't like it if you had marker all over yourself," Stefan said. "She would say you're prettier without it."

Damon moved some of Lucy's hair out of her eyes. "It's true," he said. "You're very pretty just like this." He looked over at Stefan. "Speaking of Selina, how do you think she and Anna are doing?"

Stefan shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "And frankly, it scares me to even guess."

* * *

><p>Selina and Anna were absently flipping through television channels when they heard the front door open. "I think that's Elijah," Anna said. "You want to go and see?"<p>

"I'm back," Elijah said. "And everything seems to be in one piece, so I assume everything is well here?" He came into the living room and put the briefcase down on the floor. "Anna!" he said when he saw her. "Did you bring Lucy with you?"

Anna shook her head. "No, I didn't."

"Well is she back with Stefan?" Elijah asked.

Anna nodded. "Yep, that's right. She's with Stefan. That's correct."

"Good," Elijah said. "I was going to just go over and see her, but I thought I'd better make sure that's exactly where she was."

"But they're not at our house," Anna said. "They're somewhere else."

"Where are they?" Elijah asked. "Where else is left?"

Anna groaned as Selina punched her in the arm. "Actually, I was apparently mistaken," she said. "Lucy _is_ at our house."

Elijah put the briefcase down on the floor. He was frowning. "Well, which is it?" He snapped. "Is she, or isn't she? How is it possible that she's been gone for almost three days without a word? Do either of you know something you aren't telling me?"

"Okay!" Anna said. "Maybe we _are_ lying, but we won't tell you the truth until we find out what's in that briefcase!"

Selina's eyes widened. "Anna, for god's sake!"

Anna shrugged. "Come on. You want to know what's in there, he wants to know where Lucy is, it's just easier this way."

Elijah strode up to Selina and put his hand under her chin. She tried to avoid his eyes, but it was impossible. "Darling," he said to her, "Where's Lucy?"

"She's at Damon's," Selina said and hated herself for it. "And the reason why we didn't tell you was that something's happened to her. Something bad."

Elijah's eyes widened. "Something bad happend to Lucy and you didn't think I should know? Well, what is it? Tell me, _now."_

"Helene's magic is on the fritz and Lucy got hit by a spell and it turned her into a teenager with a two-year old's mind. It's not permanent. Helene assured me that Lucy_ will_ change back. And I knew that if I told you you would fly off the handle, so I thought it would be best to keep you out of the loop until the spell wore off. And we sent her to Damon's cause you hardly ever go there and he raised her after she was born so he loves her like a daughter and he would never do _anything_ to put her in danger..."

Elijah pulled Selina to her feet and began dragging her toward the front door. "You and I are going to go to Damon's and we are going to get Lucy and bring her home. And if you _ever_ keep something like this from me again-"

"Then what?" Selina cut him off. "You'll kill me? You know you won't. And let me tell you something: I was perfectly within my rights as Lucy's mother to keep this from you. You are _not_ Lucy's father, no matter how much it might seem like it, so I am _not_ obligated to tell you everything that goes on in her life, especially if telling you will do more harm than good." His grip slackened after this speech and she pulled her arm free. "I think I've done a damn good job raising her and I thank you for your help, but I will _not_ let you lecture me and make me think that I'm raising her wrong or that I'm a bad parent. Because I'm not, all right? Now if you want to pick her up, let's go. Since you don't trust Damon, we wouldn't want to waste any more time."

Elijah was looking livid, but he kept silent. He pushed the briefcase in Anna's direction and followed Selina out of the house.

* * *

><p>"Tired?" Damon asked Lucy when he saw her yawn.<p>

She nodded. "A little. The warm water in the bath made me sleepy."

"Want me to take you to your room?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah." Damon led her to her room and tucked her in, then went to shower. In the middle of his shower, he heard a loud noise from the living room. He turned off the water and toweled off his hair, putting the towel around his waist, and then went out to the living room to see what had happened.

"Oh, hi," he said when he saw Selina and Elijah. "What's going on?"

"Where's Lucy?" Elijah asked, grabbing Damon by the throat. "What did you do with her?"

"She's in bed," Damon choked out.

Elijah's frown became deeper. "You weren't planning on joining her, were you? I _know_ about what happened to her."

"Let him go," Selina said. "This isn't helping anything."

Elijah let Damon go and he ended up in a heap on the floor. "What room is he talking about?" he asked Selina.

"We'll find it," she said. They looked from room to room until finally they opened a door with a bed that had a lump under the covers. They entered the room and heard crying and saw that the covers were moving. Elijah hurried over to the bed and pulled the covers down to reveal a mass of blue fabric. Elijah pulled the blue fabric down and found himself looking at a very grumpy two year old. "Lucy!" He said, picking her up and hugging her to him. "You're all right! Your mother told me the craziest story. I think she was just trying to drive me insane." He turned and gave Selina a frown. "And she did a _very_ good job."

Damon entered the room a few seconds later. "What's going on?" He asked.

"Lucy turned back," Selina said. She patted her daughter on the head. "And in the nick of time, too. I'm so glad."

"Me too," Damon nodded. "You have no idea."


	15. Losing Control

"So," Joshua said as Damon shut the door on Selina's heel. "Who was that girl you were practically drooling over?"

Damon looked up at him. "You won't believe me," he said. "You probably won't approve either."

"Is she a prostitute?" Joshua asked. "Father, I know you're upset about Mother moving on, but you really should-"

"No!" Damon said, cutting him off. "It wasn't a _prostitute_! It was Lucy!"

Joshua started. "Lucy? You mean ornery little spitfire Lucy? But she's little! Have you lost your mind?"'

Damon sat down on the sofa and ran his fingers through his hair. "I wish I was. But I got on the bad side of a witch with faulty magic and she went to put a spell on me, but it hit Lucy instead and made her grow up. At least in body, anyway. Not necessarily in smarts."

"Oh, and here I thought you'd just picked up another vapid, shallow cocktail waitress." Joshua smirked.

"Yes, well, if your mother hadn't left me, then we wouldn't be having this problem," Damon grumbled.

"Don't put all the blame on her," Joshua said. "Didn't you leave _us_ first?"

"It was war time and my father insisted on pain of death!" Damon said. "I quit after four months, but by then it was too late."

Joshua nodded. "You don't need to tell me the rest," he said. "I know it all too well. Maybe it was supposed to happen this way, though. Maybe you and Mother just weren't meant to be together. Father, you have to let her go, for your own sake and hers."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Wonderful," he said. "Selina gets to have a fun time with her new boyfriend and what do I get?"

Joshua gave his father a long look and then went to get Sam, who'd been brought back earlier. "You need something to distract you from all this," he said. "Mom, Lucy, just women in general. Why don't you take Sam outside? I remember when my friends and I would go out camping and fishing. Those were good times."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "My father let you go camping?"

"It was after he died," Joshua admitted. "And no, he wouldn't have let me before. I tried to ask him once, but he looked incredulous and asked me why I would want to do something like that."

Damon nodded. "That sounds like my father."

Joshua held Sam out to Damon. "So, are you going to go? You could always call Uncle Stefan if you don't want to go by yourself."

"You know," Damon said, taking Sam, "That doesn't sound like a bad idea. I think I'll do that!"

* * *

><p>"Now, what exactly do you want from me?" Stefan asked when Damon came over.<p>

"I'm taking Sam camping and I was wondering if you wanted to come with us," Damon said. "So do you?"

Stefan sucked in his breath. "I don't know. Ordinarily I would say 'yes,' but..." He trailed off as Lucy came toddling into view. "But Selina asked me and Anna if we'd watch Lucy and Anna said yes. Based on what happend mere hours ago, I don't know if you're fit enough emotionally to be around Lucy yet."

"Oh, yes I am," Damon said. "Just bring her along. I'll be all right, I promise."

"What's going on?" Anna asked. She picked up Lucy and Lucy let out a whine, reaching out for Damon.

"Stefan, Sam, Lucy and I are going to go camping," Damon told her. "Wanna come with us?"

Anna crinkled her nose. "Dirt and nature and nothing to eat but animals? No, thanks. I think I'll pass. Good idea asking Stefan though. He's used to stuff like that."

"You just want to keep looking at what's in that briefcase Elijah gave you, don't you?" Stefan asked. "When are you going to tell _me_ what's in there? Is it some big secret?"

Anna looked suspiciously at Damon, then back at Stefan and shook her head. "I'll tell you later. I can't tell you now though."

"Because Damon's here?" Stefan looked incredulous. "He can know about it. He _saw_ Selina kill those boys at Joshua's grave. He knows she's got a dark side."

Anna came up short. "Well, it appears that you already _know_ about what's in the briefcase, so I don't _have_ to tell you." She handed Lucy to Damon after Stefan took Sam.

"Well, then can someone tell _me_?" Damon asked. "I hate being the one left in the dark."

Stefan nodded. "I'll tell you when we get to the camp site."

* * *

><p>Selina put her ice tea down and looked out the window. "It looks nice out there today," she remarked. "I think I'll go out and take advantage of it."<br>Elijah didn't look up. "Maybe you should take Lucy to the park. She's getting restless around the house."  
>"I sent Lucy to Stefan and Anna's. I had something in mind for today that children would interfere with."<br>Now Elijah looked up. "Oh? Like what?"  
>She grinned. "I got a new bathing suit and I thought I'd test it out." She gulped down the rest of her tea and ran out of the dining room, then came back few minutes later in a tiny purple and white striped bikini, with a green beach towel draped over her arm.<br>"_That_'s what you're wearing outside?" Elijah asked, nearly spitting out his coffee. "It's very revealing, isn't it?"  
>Selina nodded. "Of course. I mean, I won't wear it once I lay my towel down. Because that would mean tan lines and then I'd just look weird, can you imagine?"<br>Elijah's eyes narrowed. "In fact I can."  
>Selina grinned. "Well, I'm heading outside now. Goodbye!" She went out to the deck in the backyard and lay down her towel, then slowly stripped off her bathing suit and lay on her stomach. Elijah could see her from the window. She was shameless, completely shameless. She turned over on her back and after a minute, he couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed another towel and went out to the yard, throwing it over her. "This is unacceptable!" He thundered. "I would think you'd have more respect for yourself than to lie out here flaunting your body for the whole world to see. It's indecent. Now get up! Let's go! Come inside."<br>She smirked as she followed him inside. "You say it's indecent, but you were looking, I know it. How else would you have gotten out here so quickly?"

"Well it's okay for _me_ to look," he said. "I respect you as a person. Other men, however..."

"I knew you'd say something like that," she said.

"Are we going to get dressed now?" Elijah asked her. "I think you should."

"In order for you to get dressed, you'd have to undress," Selina said. "I'm not opposed to that."

Elijah just rolled his eyes and strode away from her. "I'm going out," he said. "I don't know when I'll be back."

"You're in a mood," Selina called after him. "What's the matter?" But he didn't even look back. She sighed. In a way, she knew what the matter was. She hadn't been very nice to him earlier when they'd talked about Lucy. It had just been a misunderstanding. She regretted it. And when he came back from wherever he was going, she'd tell him she was sorry.

* * *

><p>"So," Damon said, "that briefcase Anna was talking about. What's in it? And what does Selina have to do with it?"<p>

"Well, I don't know for sure because I haven't been allowed near it since Anna got it home, but whatever it is must have something to do with Selina's murderess past."

Damon looked at him silently and then burst into laughter. "You're kidding, right? Using 'Selina' and 'murderess past' in the same sentence?"

Stefan shook his head. "I'm not, actually. It was an effect of you leaving her, I think. You or Aleksandr. Or maybe both of you. Anyway, by the twenties, she was just a mess of anger and bloodshed and ruthlessness."

Damon scoffed. "I don't believe you."

Stefan grinned, one side of his mouth up. "Remember when we were at Joshua's grave? What she did to all the boys there? And the restaurant story I told you? Those things really happened. I wasn't just making them up."

"Okay," Damon said, doing his best to ignore Lucy, who was holding her arms up to be picked up, keeping an eye on Sam and trying to put the tent together at the same time.

After a while, Lucy's lip began to tremble and Stefan picked her up instead, doing his best to stem her tantrum and keep hold of her while she tried to squirm out of his arms.

"Why couldn't you have picked her up?" Stefan asked.

"Because I am attempting to stay on good behavior," Damon said. "And that includes not coddling Lucy too much."

"Well if you took her now, you wouldn't be coddling her, you'd be keeping us all sane. If she keeps this up, Sam might copy her and do you really want to be in the woods with two screaming toddlers?" Stefan asked, holding out Lucy.

Damon shut his eyes tight and groaned. "Fine," he said. "Hand her over and I'll see what I can do."

The second he held her, she stopped crying and giggled, hugging him. "That's better," Stefan said. He went over to get on his knees next to Sam, who was intently watching a bug crawl along a log, stopping him just before he reached out to grab the bug and stick it in his mouth. Then Sam turned and began whining and squirming. He looked really uncomfortable.

"Damon," Stefan said, "would you come here a minute? I think something's wrong with Sam."

Damon went over to them and Lucy followed obediently. He looked Sam over. "There's nothing wrong with Sam," he said finally. "He just needs to go to the bathroom. I guess we'll find a tree and take care of business." He gave Stefan a wink. "Watch Lucy, would you? Thanks!" Stefan opened his mouth to protest, but Damon and Sam were gone before he could get a word out. As Lucy began to follow them, he picked her up and pulled her back. She screeched, but Stefan turned her to face him. "Look at me," he said. "You're a big girl. Big girls don't scream and cry every time they don't get their way. Now you just stay here with me until Damon and Sam get back."

Lucy gave him a considering look. Then she sat down for a few minutes and when Stefan took his eyes off her, she got up and ran in the opposite direction. By the time he turned around, she was gone. "Damn it," he whispered. "This isn't good." He ran around the woods calling for Lucy, but she didn't come back. He finally stumbled on Damon and Sam, who were standing facing a tree with their pants unzipped.

"Not to interrupt," He told them. "But Lucy ran off, and she might come this way."

Damon shut his eyes. "Good god, Stefan. She's two years old! Can't you watch her for five minutes?" He heard a trickle, opened his eyes and grinned. "Sam, look at you! I'm so proud!" Sam giggled and after he finished going to the bathroom, Damon helped him zip up his pants and wipe off his hands with a towelette before picking him up. "We won't tell Mommy about this," he said. "She wouldn't appreciate it."

Just then, they heard a giggle and Stefan groaned. Lucy was situated against another tree, her skirt around her ankles, attempting to do what Sam and Damon had been doing seconds before, but she soon realized that something was wrong. After she finished, she looked up at Damon and Stefan sheepishly. "Oopsie," she said.

"Damn," Damon said. "We'll have to take her home and give her another bath."

"What about her clothes?" Stefan asked. "We _do_ have other clothes for her, don't we?"

"Why does that matter now if we're going home to give her a bath?" Damon asked. "We can get her clothes changed then! Until we get home, we'll just put her in something of Sam's. It's not like we have any other choice."

Wincing, they stripped off Lucy's clothes and threw them in a box in the trunk, along with all the other stuff they'd already taken out then Stefan struggled to get a jersey and jeans that were a little too big onto Lucy. But she wouldn't have it. Every time Stefan got them on her, she'd take them off, giggling wildly like they were playing a game. Finally, he gave up and just stuck the shirt underneath her and let her sit naked on the seat. Then he rubbed his temples. He couldn't wait until they got home.

* * *

><p>"Elijah!" Klaus said in surprise. "What brings you here?"<p>

Elijah looked up. "Selina," he said. "You won't believe what just happened."

"What?" Alistair asked. "Something bad?"

"Well, you should probably know too," Elijah said to him. "It applies to you as well."

"What did _he_ do?" Klaus asked.

"For starters," Elijah said, "Alistair, do you realize that Helene's magic isn't working properly? Whever she casts spells, they go wrong! A few days ago, Damon asked Helene to do a spell for him that would help him regain Selina's affections, but Lucy got in the way of it and she ended up with the body of a teenager. She's back to normal now, though. And Selina decided to have Lucy stay at Damon's so I wouldn't know what happened to her."

"What?" Klaus asked. "My daughter had a teenager's body and she was staying in the home of a Lothario like Damon? Why didn't I know about this?"

"Wait!" Elijah looked at him strangely. "You _didn't _know? Selina didn't tell you? I honestly thought she had. At least that's what she led me to believe when she told me she didn't tell me anything because I'm not Lucy's actual father."

Klaus shook his head. "Well, she didn't. I think we should go and ask her why, don't you?"

Elijah nodded, his lips in a thin line. "I agree."

"And I'll go visit my daughter," Alistair said. "So I can see what's going on with her magic."

* * *

><p>When Klaus and Elijah arrived back at his house, Klaus said, "Are you sure she's here?"<p>

Elijah nodded. "I think so. Selina!" He called. "Where _are_ you?"

"In the library!" She called. "I want to talk to you."

Elijah and Klaus looked at one another. "What a coincidence," Elijah called back. "I want to talk to you too."

They went to the library and Elijah said to Klaus, "Stay outside. I'll tell her what happened, then you can come in."

Klaus nodded and Elijah went inside "Selina," he said, I-". He broke off and watched as his leather desk chair turned around to reveal Selina in one of his white button down shirts. She held a book, but as her eyes found his, she snapped it shut.

"Did you know," she said, getting up, "that eighty percent of people who say they're too busy to be in a relationship are really lonely?" She strode toward him, her legs looking really long without a skirt or pants to cover them up. She wore black heels that clacked on the floor as she neared him. "Are you lonely?" She asked. "I can help."

He shook his head. "No, no, no!" he gently pushed her away. "I came to have a serious discussion with you and I will _not _be distracted!"

Just then, the library door opened and Klaus came in. "I suppose it's been long enough," he said. "Selina, I can't believe you didn't tell me that-"

Selina let out a shriek and Elijah shielded her with his body.

Klaus blinked. "Oh, my god," he said, looking at Elijah. "She's not wearing anything, is she?"

"I'm more dressed than you think," Selina said. "But don't get any ideas."

"Oh, don't flatter yourself," Klaus said. "I think we both know I have other things on my mind besides you. Even if you aren't wearing any pants." He smirked.

"Sit in the desk chair," Elijah whispered to her. "And don't move it back."

"Nicky, shut your eyes," Selina ordered. And when his back was turned, she scampered to the desk chair and sat down. Once she was seated, Elijah and Klaus took seats on the other side of the desk and leaned forward.

"Now, as I was saying," Klaus told her, "Why didn't you tell me what happend to Lucy?"

"I planned to," she said. "It's just that I didn't want you to get all worked up for nothing. The two of you always blow things way out of proportion."

Klaus narrowed his eyes. "Our daughter turned into a teenager. What if something had happend to her? What if she'd run away? She could have gotten lost, or been kidnapped or worse and I wouldn't have been any the wiser. Do you have _any idea _how angry this makes me? I know we have our differences, but I would hope that you still respect me enough to keep me up to date on Lucy's life. Don't _ever_ leave either of us in the dark again, do you understand me?"

"Yes," Selina nodded. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept this from you and I won't, ever again, even if I do think you're blowing it way out of proportion."

Klaus stood up. "I would offer a difference of opinion, but I have a date soon and if I don't leave now, I'm going to be late." He looked at Elijah. "I trust you'll take care of things here?"

Elijah nodded. "Of course I will."

Once Klaus was gone, Elijah looked at Selina. "Tell me something," he said. "What's wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?"  
>Selina sniffled. "I'm really sorry about what I said in regards to you and Lucy, and I hope that you'll eventually tell me what I can do to make things better between us." She took his hand and began massaging his palm with her thumb and then rubbed up and down his arm. "You've been good for me," she said. "And if we split up because of one silly fight, I'll probably just do something dumb like going back to Nicky. Actually, I can't do that because he's working on getting an actual girlfriend now and I wouldn't want to ruin that, but Damon's still free. And don't you want better for me?" She lay her head on his shoulder and looked at him with big eyes. "<em>I<em> want better for me. You taught me that I'm more than just my body or a dowry. I need you. And judging by how you were looking out the window today, you need me too." She grinned.

Elijah put a hand under Selina's chin and smirked. "And what, pray tell, would I need you for?"

She grinned and kissed him, while he unbuttoned her shirt and placed it on the chair. She put her arms around his neck and he backed her up against the wall and pulled down her panties. They fell around her ankles and she kicked them under the sofa. He lowered her to the rug and began kissing down her neck and collarbone. She moaned as he sucked leisurely on her breasts. Her fingers were in his hair, mussing it horribly, but at this point, she figured he didn't care. Then he swirled around her belly button with his tongue and she reached down and unzipped him. He paused and gave her a penetrating glance before standing up and removing his pants she whimpered as he stood over her, then he got down to his knees, kissing her again and pulling her knees apart before he entered her and she squealed, her leg hitting the edge of the desk and sending a small Tiffany lamp crashing to the floor.

"Oops," she said, blinking. "I hope you weren't too attached to that."

Breathing hard, he paused and looked up to see what she was talking about. He looked at the shattered lamp for a moment, then back down at her body, and shrugged. "It doesn't matter," he said. "I can always get another." Then he turned back to her and kissed her again.


	16. Arrested Development

"Now remind me why we're here again?" Vince asked Roxie as she led him through the smoke-filled bar.

"I met some new people," she said. "And since you and I are involved, I think you should meet them too," Roxie said.

Vince looked around the room and winced. The building was a dive, much less neat than Enid's. He had a feeling lots of unsavory types made their home here.

"Roxie!" called the bartender. "Back again so soon?"

Vince gave Roxie a look. "You've only been here once or twice and the bartender knows you by name?"

Roxie grinned. "What can I say? It's just the sort of person I am." She sat down on a barstool and nodded at the bartender. "I certainly am, Vic. And I brought someone special with me." She gestured at Vince. "This is Vince. He's my boyfriend."

Vic shook Vince's hand. He was an older man, with thin gray hair, a scar down one cheek and green-gray eyes. Vince studied him. Vampire, he thought. He looked around. Everyone in the place seemed to be vampires.

"You're a lucky guy," Vic said. Just then, the bell over the door rang as it opened to allow entrance to a redhead with green eyes. She wore a tight black body suit and sunglasses, which she removed before signaling to Vic. "Hey," she said. "Beer, please."

Vic cleared his throat. "Olivia, I think there's someone here you should meet." He pointed at Roxie and as Roxie turned her barstool around to face the newcomer, Olivia's eyes widened. "Sera! Long time no see! Where have you been all these years? You look good as a brunette. I like it." She grinned.

"Actually, her name's Roxie," Vince said.

Olivia let go of Roxie and stepped back. "Sorry," she said. "It's just that you really remind me of a friend of mine. I haven't seen her for years."

She took a leather bag off her shoulder and pulled a faded black and white picture out of the main pocket, looking it over. "It's scary," she said. "You look a lot like her at first glance, but also different." She handed the picture to Roxie. "Take a look."

Roxie looked the picture over and gasped. "Vince, look at this!" She said, wildly waving the picture in Vince's face. "It's my mother! She's blonde, but I really think it's her! She looks like she did in this dream that I had once!"

Olivia burst out laughing. "Your _mother_? Really? It's hard to picture Sera having kids. I mean, you should have seen how pissed she got when Nick insisted they take in that Mary Anne girl. But I really can't blame Sera. The girl was the daughter of her cheating loser of an ex-boyfriend. Wouldn't you be mad if _you_ were her?"

After a moment, Roxie nodded. "I suppose I would. And Mom and I haven't always gotten along well, either. When I was little, she tied me to the top of her car during a rainstorm and drove home."

Olivia sucked in her breath. "_That_ sounds more like my friend."

Vince smirked. "What Roxie forgot to mention was that she deserved every wet, cold minute."

Roxie glared at him. "Whatever," she said and turned her attention back to Olivia. "So, would you like to see my mom again? I can take you to her. Or at least find out where she is so the two of you can meet."

"Would you?" Olivia asked. "You're so sweet for offering."

"Word to the wise," Roxie said as she and Olivia walked out of the bar standing close together with Vince trailing in their wake, "Mom's lame now, a complete tool. She and my Dad have broken up and now she's sleeping with my uncle."

"And your dad is...?" Olivia asked.

"Nick," Roxie said. "_He's_ my daddy. We're very close. Or at least we were until my stupid little sister came along. Now he has no time for me whatsoever, apparently."

"So your parents have_ two_ kids?" Olivia asked. "You and your sister?"

"And we have an older brother too," Roxie said. "He's married to a witch. A literal one. Not a figurative one." She paused. "I'll call my mom now, so we can find out where she is." They left Vince at the bar and once he realized they weren't coming back, he went home, knowing that he'd have to call Selina about that Olivia. He didn't trust her one bit.

* * *

><p>"So how long did it take for Elijah to let you out of the house this morning?" Anna asked Selina.<p>

"A _long_ time," Selina said. "You should have seen the look on his face when I told him that I wanted to come over here and see what was in the briefcase. He looked absolutely _horrified_! That and he was kind of mad at me for sending Lucy off with Nicky. He thinks I don't keep her at home enough." She shuffled through some of the old photos of her. "I looked good in the twenties. You think I should go blonde again?"

"Well, I don't know," Anna said, picking up a photo of the two of them and Selina's friend Olivia. "I wouldn't recommend it. Remember, Elijah didn't like you back then, so calling up your old look might turn him off."

"If I start chosing my looks based off whether or not Elijah will like them, then I'm back to being just as childish as I was before I got together with him, right?" Selina asked her.

Anna nodded. "I suppose that's true. You _did_ look awfully good as a blonde, though."

Selina paused at a picture of her and Klaus dancing cheek to cheek on New Years' Eve. "Things were different then," she said. "_I_ was different. New to being able to be out in the world and do whatever I pleased with no one to tell me no. I reveled in it. But now...Now I sort of see how stupid I was. I mean, it was a good time, sure. But what did I _accomplish_, really?"

Anna lifted an eyebrow. "You mean _besides_ gaining a reputation as one of the most notorious killers the world has ever seen, as yet uncaught?"

"You act like that's something to be proud of," Selina said.

"Well, it kind of is," Stefan said, entering the living room and sitting down on the sofa. "So, have you told Elijah about all this yet?"

Selina shook her head. "No, but based on what was in that briefcase, I'm wondering if I have to."

"There were pictures of you in the briefcase?" Stefan asked.

Selina shook her head. "Just articles, Stefan. You don't get to become a notorious, uncaught killer by letting people plaster pictures of your face everywhere! Well, Dillinger did it. And Al Capone. So I guess you _can_ have your pictures up everywhere and still be a notorious killer."

"But let's not forget," Anna said, "Dillinger supposedly got shot down by the cops at the Biograph in '34 and Capone died at the Rock in '47, so it's not like they got off scot-free." She looked up at Stefan. "I found the pictures among _my_ stuff. Looking at those articles made me feel a little nostalgic."

Stefan got down on the floor next to them and picked up a handful of photos, smirking. "You aren't smiling in any of the ones you and I are together," he remarked. "Why _was_ that?"

"'Cause you were kind of a pain in my ass back then," Selina said. "Always nagging me about Damon when really, he was the _last_ person I wanted to talk about..."

_Klaus looked up and grinned. "There's the last member of our party!" He said, getting up to embrace Stefan. Selina rolled her eyes. "Damn. I would have hoped you'd forget to give him an invite this time. It would be so nice if you would once in awhile."_

_Klaus sat back down and grinned, running his fingers through Selina's hair. "What's the matter with you?" He said. "He's my friend. Why can't you just get along with him?"_

_Selina leaned forward. "It's not my fault," she said. "He's always nagging me every time I see him. He won't stop. He doesn't even think I should _be_ with you!"_

_Anna looked at Stefan. "Really? Why? You don't like her, do you?"_

_Stefan shook his head. "Romantically? No. She was supposed to marry my brother before we all turned."_

_Klaus looked at her in surprise. "When were you going to tell me that?"_

_"I was gonna get around to it," Selina glowered. "Not that it's of consequence anymore. Damon was the one who left _me._ If he were still around, believe me, I'd be with him. But he's not, so I can't. Let it _go." _She said the last sentence through her teeth. "I don't even know why you care about what's going on with him all of a sudden. I would figure after what happened with Katherine, things would be pretty tense between the two of you."_

_"Why?" Anna asked._

_Selina grinned. "They're super-competitve." She gave Stefan a smirk. "Katherine played the two of you like a drum at a Fourth of July parade. Why would you let that happen, Stefan? Was it because your father witheld affection? Or, as Doctor Freud would say, was it a penis thing?"_

_Klaus tried not to laugh, but ended up chuckling anyway. Stefan shot him a glare._

_"Relax, mate," Klaus said. "Have a drink. Sera's just having a little fun." He gestured at a waitress and when she came by, he said, "A drink for my friend. Or two, or three...I tell you what: just keep them coming."_

"You still haven't answered my question after all these years," Selina said. "The one about you and Damon and Katherine."

Stefan sighed. "Because I prefer not to," he said. "Living with us doesn't entitle you to know every aspect of our lives. Some things just aren't your business."

Selina rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay, fine." Just then, her phone rang. She opened it and put it to her ear. "Hello? Roxie, what did you do now?" She paused. "Did you really? Where? Sure I want to see her! Aunt Anna's with me. I'll let her know to. All right, see you in a few minutes. Oh, I'm at Anna and Stefan's. All right. Goodbye."

"What's Roxie up to now?" Anna asked.

Selina grinned. "She told me she was walking around downtown and bumped into Olivia, and that Olivia wanted to see me!"

Stefan frowned. "You mean the crazy Olivia that the two of you were friends with?"

Anna nodded. "Yeah! Oh, I can't wait to see her. It's been _ years_!"

* * *

><p>"So when you knew her, Mom was evil?" Roxie asked Olivia, looking intrigued.<p>

"I wouldn't say she was _evil_," Olivia corrected, "I would just say she was more in touch with her true nature. She used to kill a lot. Men especially. And if you were a guy and made the mistake of cheating on her and she found out about it, which she usually did, you were as good as dead. She had a _long_ string of bad luck before she met your dad, and she even hired herself out for awhile."

Roxie's eyes widened. "You mean my mother was a _prostitute?_"

Olivia laughed and shook her head. "No, no. Nothing like that. She was a sort of private investigator/hitwoman for women who feared their husbands or boyfriends were cheating. She'd hunt the jackasses down and make quick work of them. She was really thorough."

Roxie raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right? I just can't picture my child-raising, pancake making morally upright mother as a psycho killer. I just can't."

Olivia sighed and put a hand on Roxie's shoulder. "I feel sorry for you," she said. "You seem like the sort who would have loved her back then."

They reached Stefan and Anna's driveway and parked, getting out and running to ring the doorbell. Selina, who was on the other side, answered immediately.

"Olivia?" She said once Olivia was inside. Olivia nodded. "You've changed," she said, looking Selina over. "Why'd you dye your hair?"

"This is my natural color," Selina said. "The blonde was the dye. Want to come in and sit down? Have a drink, maybe?"

Olivia nodded. "Sure."

"I'd like a drink too," Roxie said.

"No," Selina said. "You're going to have a soda and like it."

"Wow," Olivia said. "You really _have_ become less fun, haven't you?"

Selina frowned as she came back with the drinks. "I've matured, if that's what you mean," she said. "I'm still a lot of fun! I drive my boyfriend insane on a daily basis."

"Who are you with now that you're not with Nick anymore?"

"His brother," Roxie said. "My Uncle Elijah. The most tightly wound man I've ever met."

Olivia gave Selina a look. "How can you be happy with a guy like that? Don't you find him boring?"

Selina nodded. "Sometimes, but I make my own fun. Just like I did back when I first met him."

"And when was that?" Roxie asked.

"It was after I'd been with your dad awhile," Selina said. "One day, Nicky told me that he thought we'd been together long enough for me to meet _another_ member of his family. I was nervous at first because your dad told me Elijah was very serious and tightly wound, but then when Nicky dawdled so much that we were really late for our meeting with your uncle and laughed the whole way to the restaurant, I knew I'd probably be all right."

"That was_ so_ funny how worried you were at first," Olivia told her. "Remember when we were down to the wire and you were standing behind Nick and being all 'We have to go, we have to go! I don't want to make a bad impression on your brother' And he just looked at you and started _laughing..."_ Olivia began chuckling herself, laughing so hard she started crying and had to wipe her eyes.

"Yes, well even in my bad period, I was a stickler for punctuality, at least where good first impressions were concerned." Selina said primly.

"Tell Roxie what you did later that night." Now Olivia had a wicked glint in her eye.

"No," Selina said, turning a little pink. "I don't think I want to."

"All right, then I will," Anna said.

"I don't think I want to hear this," Stefan said. "I think I'm going to go."

"Goodbye," Anna said without looking at him. She ginned. The story continued.

_Anna and Olivia decided to go home with Selina that night. Stefan was still drunk and upset from the fight he and Selina had had earlier, and Nick stayed with him. When Anna, Selina, and Olivia reached the house, they went into the living room, sat down, and grinned at each other._

_"So," Selina said, "is Elijah always that pleasant?"_

_Anna grinned. "I'm afraid so."_

_Selina sighed. "You know, I feel really bad about how I acted. Maybe I should call Elijah and apologize. Do you think I should? Do you have his number?"_

_Anna wrote it down on a scrap of paper. "Are you all right?" She asked. "This is so out of character for you."_

_Selina grinned. "Not if I'm drunk when I do it." She paused and looked at the clock. "It's two in the morning. Do you think he'll be up?"_

_Anna smirked. "No. Does that matter?"_

_Selina shook her head and gulped down almost an entire bottle of wine. "Of course not. It just means I'll have to let the phone ring a very long time." She picked up the receiver and got herself connected to Elijah's number. She had to let it ring for quite a long time before Elijah finally answered it._

_"Hello?" He said sleepily. "Who is this?"_

_He winced at the sharp, high giggle on the other end of the line. "This is Sera, you know, Nick's girlfriend? I'd like to apologize. I seem to have left a dress of mine at your place."_

_"How could you?" He asked. "We've only just met. You've never been to my house. Are you drunk?"_

_"Would you _like_ me to leave a dress of mine at your place?" Selina asked. "Preferably after I've been out of it and in your bed for several hours? And don't worry about me and your brother. We're not exclusive."_

_He seemed much more awake now. "Where are you calling from?"_

_Selina took the phone off her ear and handed it to Anna. "Tell him where you live," Selina said. "I think he's gonna come over here and yell at us!" The three of them burst into giggles._

_"We're at _your_ house," Anna said, handing the phone back. "You tell him!"_

_"Oh, yeah," Selina said, taking the phone back. "I forgot." She put the phone back to her ear and gave him her address. "See you in awhile, honey," she said. _

_When the doorbell rang, Selina had just finished putting on her rose lingerie. "Prince Charming is here," Olivia said to her. "Wanna go let him in?"_

_Selina grinned. "Of course." She strode to the front door and opened it. "Hello, Sugar," she said. "What can I do for you?" She put her hand on her hip and grinned at him._

_He didn't even crack a smile. "Where's your sense of decency?" He raged, storming into the house and slamming the door behind him. "What kind of a person makes obscene phone calls, drunk, at two in the morning?"_

_"A fun person," Selina said. "Do you know any?"_

_Before he could respond, Anna said, "Hello, Elijah. Nice to see you. What brings you here?"_

_Elijah eyed his sister sourly. "You know very well what brings me here. Certain people and their complete and utter disregard for proper behavior!"_

_Selina grinned. "Well, you're certainly a wet blanket. I don't envy the girl that gets cuffed to you."_

_Elijah frowned. "What in the world does that mean?"_

_Olivia grinned. "She says you're boring and she pities any woman who marries you."_

_Elijah looked livid. "I'll have you know I'm quite a catch!"_

_Selina smirked. "Oh, _of course _you are. I'm sure there are aged spinsters and plain girls of all shapes and sizes who would trip over themselves to have a night with a bluenose like you." She blew a raspberry._

_Finally, he gripped her shoulders and backed her up against the wall, kissing her hard. When he let her go and pulled away, she took a deep breath and sank to the floor, looking up at him. "Check, please," she whispered._

_"I'm never going to kiss you again, if that's what you mean," he said. "I only did it this once to prove a point." He looked around at the three girls. "Now all you young ladies get into bed and I better not see a single lit window by the time I reach my car."_

_They just nodded silently and watched him go._

_He went out to his car and watched until all the lights winked out, and then drove home himself._

"How do you know that's what he did after he left?" Roxie asked.

Anna shrugged. "I don't know. It's just a reasonably good guess.

"Where's Elijah now?" Olivia asked, looking eager. "Can we go see him?"

* * *

><p>Elijah heard Selina calling him. He put his book down and hurried out to the living room, stopping still when he saw that she was standing next to a woman with green eyes and deep red, chopped hair.<p>

"Look who's here!" Selina said to him. "Roxie was out and about and she found my old friend Olivia! You remember her, don't you?"

Elijah's eyes narrowed and he nodded. "Yes," he said. "I think I do..."

_Elijah sat on the edge of the small wooden chair, looking between his watch and the door. Niklaus should have been here thirty minutes ago. Why did he always have to run late? A few minutes later, though, he heard someone call his name. He looked up. Niklaus was coming toward the table and following behind him were two women, a redhead and a blonde. They sat down on either side of Niklaus and gazed at him expectantly._

_After a moment of silence, Elijah cleared his throat and said, "So which one is the marvelous girl I'm supposed to meet? And tell me quickly, Niklaus. Due to your tardiness, I'm almost late for a meeting._

_"It's me," the blonde said. "I'm Sera. I'm new in town." She pointed to her friend. "And this is my friend Olivia._

_"Charmed," Elijah raised an eyebrow and turned back to Selina. "How do you like it here?"_

_She looked thoughtful. "Well, I've been in Paris, so anything else is kind of lame. No offense."_

_He shook his head. "None taken. Although there are some fascinating intellectual pleasures here that are worth a visit, like the-"_

_"Bored now!" The girl said, standing up. "Besides, we wouldn't want to keep you from whatever errand you so desperately need to do." She met the redhead's eye. "Right, Olivia?"_

_Olivia nodded. "Right."_

_Sera continued. "It takes so much longer to see boring stuff, so we should give you all the time you need."_

_Elijah's eyes narrowed. "Now see here, young lady-"_

_Olivia scoffed. "Uh-oh, Sera" she said. "Here comes the lecture."_

_Elijah shook his head. "There will be no lecture. "What's the use? If you wish to throw away a chance to enrich your mind, that is your prerogative."_

_"Could you sound any more pretentious?" Selina asked._

_"I will not dignify that with a response," he said. He stood up and looked at everyone seated around the table. "It's been lovely seeing all of you," he said, "But I have to go now. Goodbye." And he strode out the door with his spine straight and his head held high, the picture of exaggerated dignity. _

"I think he _does_ remember you," Selina said to Olivia as she watched Elijah's face.

Elijah nodded. "Of course I do. How long are you staying?"

Olivia shrugged. "I don't know. But what I _was_ wondering was if I could borrow Sera tonight. I haven't seen her in awhile."

"Of course," Elijah nodded, then thought, _anything to get you out of my house._

"All right," Olivia nodded. "Will I see you around seven?" She asked Selina.

Selina nodded. "Sure. Try and stop me!"

Once Olivia was gone, Elijah gave Selina a severe look. "What are you doing with her?" He asked. "I forbid you to go anywhere near her. She's a bad influence on you."

Selina scoffed. "You _forbid_ me? You can't _forbid_ me anything. You don't own me! If I want to see my friend, I will and there's nothing that you can do to stop me, so just deal with it!" She stalked off to her room and didn't come out until it was time for her to leave for for Anna's, where she, Roxie, Anna and Olivia were having a girls' night.

"Bye," Selina said to Elijah as she was heading out the door. "I hope being alone tonight gives you the opportunity to think about what you said to me." Then she slammed the door closed and drove off to Anna's.

* * *

><p>..."So <em>all <em>these articles are about Mom?" Roxie asked Anna as they leafed through the articles in the briefcase.

Anna nodded. "Every single one. But we'll have to shut them up once she gets here. She doesn't like to think about these days much any more."

"Gee, what a shame," Roxie said. "If I were her, I'd talk about them proudly."

"She doesn't want Elijah to know about them cause she knows it'll upset him and possibly lead to the demise of their relationship," Anna said. Just then, there was a knock at the door and Anna and Roxie put the articles away.

"Can I take this with me when I go home?" Roxie asked Anna, pointing it the briefcase.

Anna nodded. "Sure. Why not?" She went to answer the door and let Olivia and Selina inside.

The evening started out fairly innocuously. They ate junk food and watched movies, but then, during truth or dare, Anna, who had already had quite a few glasses herself, dared Selina to drink a bottle of wine and make a prank call to Elijah.

"I don't think I want to," Selina said. "Think of something else, please."

"Oh, come on," Olivia said. "You're not a chicken, are you?" She saw Selina's keys on the counter. "You won't get your keys until you call Elijah."

"I'm not going to get drunk and prank call Elijah," Selina said. "That's irresponsible and stupid."

"Fine," Olivia said. "I guess you won't get your keys to go home, then."

Selina stood up. "In that case, I guess I _will_ call Elijah after all." She dialed the number and waited for him to answer.

"Hello?" He said at last.

"Elijah, it's me," Selina said.

"Are you drunk?" Elijah asked her.

"No," Selina said. "But I need you to come and pick me up. My keys got taken from me and I can't seem to get them back."

"All right," he said after a moment. "Stay right there. Don't do anything else until I get there."

"I won't," Selina said and hung up.

"Awww!" Olivia groaned. "You're no fun any more!"

"Because I've grown up!" Selina said. "And I'm okay with that. Maybe it's about time _you_ gave it a shot!"

They sat in awkward silence and then Roxie gave an exaggerated yawn and stretch. "I'm gonna go home," she said. "See you all tomorrow or whenver." She grabbed the briefcase and took it with her._  
><em>When Elijah finally arrived and they got into his car, Selina took a deep breath. "All right," she said. "Give me a lecture."

He shook his head. "I don't need to," he said. "There's no reason for it."

"But I went to a party with Olivia after you told me not to!" Selina said.

"That's true," he agreed. "But you didn't do anything wrong," he said. "You found yourself in a situation that made you uncomfortable, but instead of joining in, you did the responsible thing and called me to come and take you out of it. I'm proud of you."

Selina grinned. "_How_ proud?"

"I'll show you when we get home," he replied.

* * *

><p>"Did you eat?" Elijah asked her when they got home?"<p>

Selina shook her head. "Nothing that was good for me."

They made up some pasta and sat across from each other to eat it. Once Selina's was gone and Elijah's was nearly gone, she began rubbing her foot slowly up and down his leg. He grinned and stood up, coming around the table to pull her up with him. Then he kissed her deeply, running his hands down her body. He sat down and she straddled him, his hands creeping under her skirt and over the warm skin of her thighs. She moaned as he kissed down her neck.

Just then, the doorbell rang, bringing them back to their senses for a moment. "That's probably Nicky bringing Lucy back," Selina said. She got off him and they went to open the door. Caroline was on the other side, holding Lucy. She had two shopping bags on each arm.

"Am I interrupting something?" She asked.

"No," Selina said. "Thanks for bringing Lucy back. Did she behave herself?"

"Yeah," Caroline nodded. "Your mom came by and she and Lucy and I hit the mall." She handed Lucy, looking smart in a sailor dress with a red bow in her hair, to Selina and plopped the bags on the floor. "All this stuff is Lucy's," she explained. "Your mom went a little crazy, I hope you don't mind."

Selina shook her head. "Oh, no. That's fine. As long as I'm not the one who has to brave the malls, I'm perfectly all right with there being someone who does."

Caroline's eyes found Elijah's and she blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She said to him. "I'm Caroline Forbes. I'm dating-"

"-Nicky," Selina finished for her. "Elijah, this is Nicky's and my friend Caroline, Caroline, this is Elijah, Nicky's brother and my everything."

Caroline grinned. Elijah took her hand and kissed it and she flushed a little. "We should go out for lunch some time, just the four of us. Would that work?"

Elijah nodded. "It would be a pleasure."

Caroline grinned. "Well, all right then. Good night," She patted Lucy on the head. "Good night, you," she said to her. Once Caroline was gone, Selina picked up Lucy, who was practically asleep. "You want to put her to bed, or shall I?"

"I will," Elijah said.

Selina grinned. "And I'll be waiting for you in our room."

Elijah took Lucy upstairs, put her in her pajamas and tucked her in, then ran downstairs and into his and Selina's room, where he found her in bed wearing a red silk teddy.

"So," she grinned. "Where were we?"

He grinned and kissed her, pushing her back against the bed and continuing to kiss her neck as she unbuttoned his shirt and unzipped his pants. He ran his tongue over the inside of her thighs and inside of her before backing out slowing and pushing into her. This went on for some time and when they were finally exhausted, they lay on their sides, facing each other. "So tell me," he said, "what made you call me tonight?"

She shrugged. "I just realized that ever since I've been with you, I've grown up a little. There's nothing wrong with that. It's not shameful."

Elijah shook his head. "Of course it's not."

She grinned. "Of course, I'm not _entirely_ grown up," she said. "I'll never be able to resist doing certain things just to see the look on your face. And you'd be bored if I didn't. Admit it."

He sighed. "What I admit is that you do bring a certain unpredictable quality to my life that I didn't have before. It certainly livens things up. Keeps me on my toes." His eyes widened.

"What?" Selina asked.

"A thought just occurred to me," he said. "When we were at Anna's, I forgot to get the briefcase back! Let's go right now and get it."

"There wouldn't be any point," Selina said. "It's not there anymore. Anna gave it to Roxie. Roxie's got it now."


	17. Exes and OMFG

Elijah sat up. "What do you mean Roxie has my briefcase?" He growled at her. "She can't have my briefcase! I need what's in there!"

Selina turned to face him, resting her chin on her hand. "Why? It's just full of articles about some psycho who killed a whole bunch of people years and years and years ago. Why should any of that matter now? And may I remind you that you're the one who gave Anna the briefcase in the first place?"

He frowned, ignoring the last part of what she said. "It matters because I remember what you did on the boat. I saw how you hurt those people. Why would you do that?"

"Because I was hungry," she said. "I should have eaten before, but I forgot. I'm sorry. What does this have to do with the articles in the briefcase?"

"I told you," he said. "You killed those people in the same manner that Lonely Heart killed her victims. Why? Did you know her? Did she force you to follow her?"

Selina scoffed. "I can honestly say no," she said and began kissing his neck. "Look, I think you're getting yourself all worked up over nothing. The briefcase will still be at Roxie's in the morning and we can get it then, okay? But until then, why don't you just relax, okay?" She reached under the covers and began stroking him. He gave her a look, then relaxed into it and kissed her again.

"All right," he said as she ran her fingers through his hair. "I'll worry about the briefcase tomorrow."

She grinned. "Good. Until tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Selina was the first one to open her eyes the next morning. "Hey," she said, gently pushing Elijah off her a little so she could get out of bed.<p>

He sat up, still somewhat groggy. "Where are you going?" He asked her. She put a robe on and turned back to face him. "Well, I could either check on Lucy while _you_ shower, or you could check on Lucy while I shower. How do you want to go?"

He ran his fingers through her hair. "I'll go check on Lucy while you shower."

Selina sighed. "I just wish she was big enough that we could shower _together_ and then go check on her, but now that would take too long and who_ knows _what she'd be into by the time we got out and dressed properly?" She put her head on his shoulder and stayed that way for a few minutes before standing up straight, letting her robe drop to the floor, and heading for the bathroom. Elijah stayed in the room until he heard the shower turn on and then went to get Lucy.

When he got to her room, she was already awake and standing up in her crib, watching him expectantly. When he reached her, she reached out for him and he picked her up and took her into the kitchen, carrying her by the kitchen table to her high chair. As they passed the table, she reached out toward the teddy bear-shaped cookie jar that sat in the middle of it. Elijah shook his head. "No, no. Cookies aren't for breakfast."

Lucy pouted but let him put her in her chair without further complaint. He got a sippy cup out of the cupboard and filled it half with apple juice and half with blood and then sat it and a bowl of dry cereal in front of Lucy. She watched him for a moment as he sat down and then picked up her cup and began slurping noisily. When her cereal was almost gone, Selina came into the kitchen.

"Would you like me to get coffee for you?" Elijah asked, standing up as she entered the room. She looked at him, surprised. "Sure," she said. "And just milk with it, please." She noticed Lucy was reaching out for her, she picked her up and took her into the living room.

"Let me tell you a secret," she said, putting Lucy on her lap, "I don't really need Uncle Elijah to get me my coffee, but I let him because it makes him feel important. It's a small thing to ask of me, really, and sometimes if you want to keep harmony in a relationship, you have to give up things and compromise. Remember that."

Just then, Elijah came into the living room with their coffees. He put Selina's down on the coaster next to her and then took Lucy to sit with him.

"So, are you going to go to Roxie's and try to get the briefcase back today?" She asked after she took a sip of coffee.

Elijah nodded. "I have to have it in order to do a project today, so I think I will. What are _you_ going to do today?"

Selina shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe Lucy and I will go see Sam and go to the park. It looks like it'll be a nice day for that."

As they drank their coffee and eventually ate breakfast, Selina heard a noise outside. "The mail truck is early today," she remarked. "I'll go out and get the mail since you got me my coffee."

Elijah nodded, still keeping a grip on Lucy. "We'll be waiting for you."

Selina went out to the mailbox and came back with a stack of letters and catalogues. She went through the pile, not seeing anything particularly remarkable until she came across a letter for Elijah from someone she'd never heard of. She handed it to him.

"Who's Mary Porter?" She asked him.

"A woman I was in a relationship with many years ago," he said. "But it's over and done with now and you have nothing to worry about."

Selina nodded. "I knew that. I just wondered because you never mentioned her before. And I'm secure enough in our relationship that I'm not going to press the issue. If you say that it's over and nothing else will come of it, then I'll believe you."

"Thank you," he said. He opened Mary's letter and read it over. "She says she wants to come by and see me," he said. "I'll tell her I can't if the idea makes you uncomfortable."

Selina shook her head. "Oh, of course not! It's completely okay with me! She can come and bring ten or eleven friends for all I care!"

Elijah nodded. "Good. I'll give her our address and tell her that she's more than welcome here. And thank you, by the way. You're handling this in a very mature manner."

Selina grinned. "That's me, Miss Mature. Now you better head to Roxie's now if you want to get the briefcase back before your meeting. It might take awhile for her to surrender it."

Elijah nodded and stood up, kissing Selina and planting another kiss on Lucy's head. "Goodbye, you two. I should be back some time later today."

"Bye!" Selina called back. Once he was gone, Selina looked at Lucy. "We have to go see Daddy," she said to her. "I want to find out more about Uncle Elijah's old girlfriend, and I _know_ your daddy will tell me everything there is to know."

* * *

><p>"Selina!" Klaus said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"<p>

"I came to see you, actually," Selina said. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," he said and gestured for her to come in. Selina handed him Lucy and stepped inside, following Klaus to the living room. "So," he said once they were all seated, "what brings you here? If it's what I think, you know I won't do that anymore."

Selina shook her head. "I didn't come because I wanted to do anything sexy with you. We're both moving on, so you better be kidding me."

He nodded. "I am. So why _did_ you come? I've spoken to Roxanne and she says that Anna got a briefcase full of articles about Lonely Heart from Elijah. Does he know about that? Do you need me to come up with an excuse for you?"

"No!" Selina said quickly. "At least not yet, anyway. I came because Elijah got a letter today from a woman named Mary Porter. He told me that she was an old girlfriend when I asked, but I didn't press the issue further. I don't want him to think I'm insecure."

Klaus grinned. "Oh, but you are, aren't you? This is just _killing_ you, isn't it?"

"Yes!" She burst out. "And it totally shouldn't. It's completely illogical."

Klaus shook his head. "No, it isn't. Werewolf gene, natural jealousy, remember?"

"But that's not right," Selina said. "That only happens when a woman is jealous of their _mate_, which is you. You're in a relationship with someone else and I'm okay with that. But I mean, this thing with Elijah...I can't stand it. It's like, I work so hard to find a relationship that works out for me, and then lo and behold, when things are just perfect, here comes the one thing that could ruin it."

"Well, you don't have to worry," Klaus said. "Mary was off her nut. Crazy. Unstable. There's no possible way Elijah would be attracted to her now. He was the one that broke it off."

Selina's eyes widened. "That doesn't make me feel better! She's coming to see him! What if she sees how happy we are and then decides that I should be dead so she can have him instead?"

Klaus sighed. "Then she'll try to kill you and you'll kill her first and Elijah won't care because you acted in self-defense. There's nothing wrong with that."

"I can't just _kill_ someone!" Selina said. "If I did, I bet Elijah would find some way to yell at me and possibly break up with me for it."

Klaus put his hands over Lucy's ears so she wouldn't hear him swear and gave Selina a look. "You _used_ to not give a damn about things like that," he said. "If a woman got in the way of a relationship of yours, you just got rid of them. What's stopping you now?"

"I didn't have anything to lose before," Selina said. "I _never_ liked any of the men besides you that I went out with back then. They were for company only. But I really like your brother and he has this image of me in his head and besides that, it might give me away as Lonely Heart if I kill his girlfriend."

"It would only give you away if you killed Elijah too," Klaus said. "So again, I'm confused as to why this worries you so much. I'm sure that if you told Elijah how worried this made you, he'd drop the idea. You shouldn't have to pretend you're comfortable with something if you aren't."

Selina sighed. "I know, but-"

"I'll tell him, then," Klaus said. "I'll tell him that if he's going to see Mary, he'll have to do it somewhere that Lucy won't be because I don't want her craziness affecting Lucy in a negative way."

Selina's eyes widened. "Why didn't I think of that? God, little kids are useful sometimes!" She said, snapping her fingers. Then she smirked.

"What?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Ordinarily I would make some remark about how hypocritical it is for you to lecture other people about craziness and being a bad influence, but since you're helping me, I won't."

Klaus moved Lucy to the next cushion over on the sofa and stood up. "We just had a civilized, grown up conversation. I think that merits a toast, don't you?"

Selina nodded. "I guess. What have you got to toast with?"

"I'll go see," he said. He returned a few minutes later with two cans of soda and handed one to her and kept one for himself. "To civilized conversations," Selina said.

Klaus nodded. "Hear, hear," he said. They clinked cans and took drinks, then Klaus had to put his can down because Lucy was trying to climb into his lap.

"So where's Caroline?" Selina asked.

Klaus shrugged. "She said your mother wanted to do something today, so I assume they're doing that."

Selina nodded. "So glad Mom doesn't make me do that stuff anymore. I think Caroline is the kind of daughter she always wanted but got stuck with me instead."

"Personally, I think she should have learned to appreciate what she had instead of wishing for something she didn't. She might have learned something," Klaus said.

"Speaking of parents with whom relationships have been difficult or non-existent, have you been to Enid's and seen your father lately?" Selina asked.

"Actually, yes," Klaus nodded. "He's moved in with my mother if you can believe that."

"What's so hard to believe?" Selina asked. "That your parents want to be together, or...?"

"That Mother allowed him in her house when he's more the outdoorsy type, if you get my drift," Klaus said. "You know how territorial she is about her belongings."

"Oh, yes," Selina nodded. "I remember when she got that Ming vase at that auction and when I went to look at it, she was all, 'Step away from the v_ah_se! This isn't a supermarket or your bedroom where you can just touch anything you want'. I hope your father can get your mother to lighten up. I think it would do her some good." She paused. "I'm not looking forward to meeting Elijah's father," she said thoughtfully. "I mean, it took Elijah long enough to get used to me. His father probably never will."

Klaus shook his head. "Probably not. But I bet Elijah will stick up for you if push comes to shove. Men tend to do that for the women they sleep with."

Selina grinned. "You think?"

He nodded. After a moment, she said, "Where's Alistair?"

"He's with Astrid today," Klaus said. "Trying to figure out how to deal with the whole 'Helene not being able to do big magic' thing."

Selina nodded. "Oh, yeah. I wonder how Adrian and Helene are dealing with that? Pretty well, probably. After what happened with Lucy, I bet she won't try to do any big spells, no matter how much she'll want to."

* * *

><p>Helene was trying to make a rabbit turn purple when Adrian came into the kitchen. "How's the rehearsal for that kid at the daycare's birthday party going?" He asked her.<p>

"How could it go bad?" Helene asked, sighing sadly. "This is the easiest sort of thing. I can't believe it's what I've been reduced to. Dad never had this happen to him and he _killed_ a guy!"

Adrian sat next to her and hugged her to him. "Well, yes, but he got his later, remember? When he got sent to that weird netherworld and we could only talk to him through the mirror?"

"Well, yeah, but that's not the same as getting your magic monitored by the powers that be so you can barely do anything!" Helene complained. "I don't think I can handle any more disappointment today."

Then they heard an insistent rapping on the front door. "I think I'll go see who that is," Adrian said. "Do you mind?"

Helene shook her head. "No, go ahead. I'll go find another rabbit. I'll have all the colors of the rainbow pretty soon."

Adrian looked at her sadly and went to answer the door, gasping when he saw who was on the other side.

"Hello, Adrian." Vince's sister Tessa stood on the other side of the door. "We need to talk. May I come in?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. Why don't I just come out instead?"

"Oh, come on!" Tessa said. "Is this because of Helene? I gave you up! I'm seeing someone else? How can she possibly be jealous?"

Adrian sighed. "I suppose. Come on in." Tessa came inside and followed Adrian to the living room. When they were sitting down, Helene looked up. "Well, look who it is," she said, abandoning her rainbow of bunnies to join them. "I didn't think you'd ever have a reason to show up here again, Tessa."

"Well, ordinarily I wouldn't," Tessa said to her. She pushed her blonde hair out of her blue eyes and gave Helene a sugary smile. "But as you know, my brother is dating his sister. I have some concerns about that."

"What sort of concerns?" Adrian asked. "What's going on?"

"Well, I just think your sister is taking advantage of my brother," Tessa said. "I think we should suggest they separate."

Adrian looked at her in surprise. "Are you serious? They're each other's _mates_!"

Tessa shrugged. "What does _that_ have to do with anything? You and I are mates and are we together? No! And we're all right with that! I don't see how Vince and Roxie would be any different."

"They _are_!" Helene said. "Roxie needs your brother. He is the reason she clings to the small bit of humanity she's got in her! If they separated-"

"Excuse me," Tessa said. "I don't think you have anything to do with this. I think this is between Adrian and me." She looked in the kitchen. "And I'd go check on your bunnies if I were you. They're looking like they want to run amok."

Helene looked at Adrian. "I don't have to go, do I?" She asked.

Adrian sighed. "Maybe you should for a little while," He said. "We can talk more later."

Narrowing her eyes, Helene went back into the kitchen and glared at Tessa and Adrian as she rounded up her rabbits. Then she sat down. "Werewolves are so _stupid_!" She said and brought her hand down on the table. Sparks shot from her fingers and bounced from wall to wall until they hit both Tessa and Adrian, and went out an open window. Tessa and Adrian collapsed next to each other on the floor and then sat up slowly and gazed into each other's eyes. Then they put their arms around one another and kissed deeply.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Helene said, trying to pull them apart. "Stop doing that! Stop doing that right now!"

"Why?" Adrian asked when he finally managed to bring his head up.

"What do you mean '_why'?" _ Helene asked incredulously. "You're married to _me._ You shouldn't be kissing anyone else! Or doing anything in addition to kissing!"

Adrian smirked. "Really possessive, aren't you?" He asked. "I don't think I can be with anyone who nags that much." He looked at Tessa. "Can you believe her? She thinks I'd actually be interested in someone besides you."

Tessa looked Helene over. "You better not be," she said. "He's mine and if you want to still be alive tomorrow, I suggest you get as far away from us as you possibly can."

"Or what?" Helene asked. "You'll kill me?"

Tessa nodded. "Slowly and painfully."

Helene looked at Adrian. "She's not serious, is she?"

"I don't know," he said. "But do you _really_ want to try your luck? You ended up in the hospital both times I bit you. And I did that on accident. Imagine how much it would hurt to be the victim of a werewolf who targeted you on purpose?"

Helene looked at them for a moment, then lit out of the house and headed for Klaus' so that both of their fathers would know what happened.

* * *

><p>Helene drove up to the house and saw Adrian's aunt Anna's car in the driveway. She was just coming down the stairs carrying Lucy when Helene met her at the door. "I need to talk to either my father or Adrian's. Are they home?" She asked.<p>

"Well, yeah," Anna said. "I mean, your father's not. I think he's out of town with your mom or something. But Nick and Selina are busy right now. They can't talk to anyone."

"Well, this is an emergency," Helene said. "I'm sure that they'll stop whatever they're doing when they find out that Adrian's completely lost his mind."

Anna smirked. "Yeah, good luck with that. I'm taking Lucy over to Damon's because Stefan and I have a thing and can't watch her ourselves. I'm sure that it'll be okay as long as Elijah doesn't find out. Goodbye, Helene."

"Goodbye," Helene said and then opened the door to the house and stepped inside.

"Hello?" She called. "Klaus? Dad? Anybody home?" Then she heard a crash followed by a scream and then more crashing. Thinking that the house was being robbed, she ran in the direction of the crashes and pulled open the bedroom door behind from which the sounds were coming.

"All right," she said. "You take one thing from this room and I'll-" Then she realized what she was looking at and let out a shriek of her own. Klaus and Selina were in bed together and didn't rush to cover themselves up with blankets.

"Hi, Helene," said Selina as Klaus kissed down her neck. "How are you? If seeing us like this troubles you, you really should remember to knock." Then she shifted her attention back to Klaus, kissing him deeply and running her hands over his abs before he moved her underneath him and drove into her, causing her to scream again. Helene shut her eyes tight along with the bedroom door. "Oh, my god," she whispered to herself. "What the hell is going on? First Adrian and Tessa and now Klaus and Selina? They don't sleep together anymore! They're divorced, they've broken up! What-"

"Been doing big magic again?" Helene turned around and saw Hazel looking at her inquisitively.

Helene shrugged. "I don't know. If I have, it certainly wasn't intentional. Not since I accidently turned Adrian's baby sister into a teenager. What's going on with Adrian and everybody?"

"Have you made any sudden hand motions recently?" Hazel asked. "Sometimes a spell doesn't have to be intentional to be cast. Sometimes, one wrong handmotion and some strong emotions is enough."

Helene sighed. "Well, Adrian's ex-girlfriend/mate Tessa came over because her brother is dating Adrian's sister but Tessa doesn't like it and wants them to break up. And Tessa and Adrian were talking and making the stupidest plan known to man because they wouldn't let me help and I sorta got mad and hit the table a little too hard."

"What did you say when you got mad?" Hazel asked. "What did you think? Anything specific?"

"Just that werewolves were stupid," Helene said. "Next thing I know, Adrian is halfway to ripping off Tessa's clothes, I don't exist for him, and when I get _here_, Adrian's parents, who have divorced and are involved with other people, are as demonstrative as they were when they were together."

"It's because you made them stupid," Hazel told her. "The spell you unintentionally cast made all their reasoning ability go away. That's why Adrian and Selina are with people they feel only instinctive animal passion for but otherwise have no real connection to, instead of being with the people who they know are better for them, who just happen to be you and Adrian's uncle."

"Are they gonna be like this forever?" Helene asked.

Hazel shook her head. "No, like all the other times, it'll wear off. They'll come back to their senses sooner or later. Just don't do any more crazy hand motions in the mean time."

She disappeared and Helene groaned and shouted after her, "Well, that was real helpful!" She got out her phone. "I think I'll get this fixed sooner rather than later. I can't just sit and wait this out. Selina would _kill_ me."

She dialed Elijah's number and it took him awhile to answer. "Hello?"

Helene cleared her throat. "Elijah, it's Helene. We have a bit of a situation here. Get to Klaus' house as fast as you can."

"What's the problem?" Elijah asked.

"You know how I'm having problems with my magic?" She asked. "Well, a spell I accidently did made Klaus and Selina get back together. Like _all the way_ back together, at least physically. Do you want to come and snap her out of it?"

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Elijah said. "Wait for me." He shut his phone and opened the door to Roxie's apartment. He was barely inside when he finally realized why Roxie hadn't answered the door: She and Vince were tangled in each other's arms and both were almost completely naked. Elijah sighed. It was like Selina and Niklaus all over again.

Taking a deep breath, he walked into the apartment and began looking around for the briefcase. He found it under Roxie's bed and opened it, going through all the articles and making sure everything was there. He gave a sigh of relief when nothing seemed to be missing. Then he shut the case and made his way to the front door with it, but when he passed the sofa, Roxie grabbed his arm.

"Where are you going with that?" She asked. "I haven't finished.

He gave her a frown. "Well, Roxanne, this was mine in the first place. Your Aunt Anna had no right to give it to you without asking me first. Besides, seeing as how you're occupied at the moment, I don't see what's so wrong about my taking it back for the day, at least."

"Will you bring it back here?" She asked him.

Elijah shook his head. "No, I won't. I'm going to take it back home where it belongs. If you want to know more about what's in here, I'm sure you'll be able to find someone you can ask."

Roxie glared at him for a moment, then Vince put a hand under her chin. "Hey," he said. "Focus, will you?"

Roxie turned back to him and they resumed their amorous activities while Elijah, grateful for the distraction, slipped out the apartment door, briefcase in hand, and went to see what Helene had gotten herself into now.

* * *

><p>"Anna?" Damon asked when he responded to her knock. "What's going on?" She handed him Lucy. "Something weird," she said. "Nick and Selina are back together. And not only that, I think she's lost her mind. I thought it would be best to get Lucy out of the way until things got better and Elijah's busy, so the only place left to bring her was here."<p>

Damon looked down at Lucy who was grinning at him. "Well, I don't think Lucy minds," he said. He went and sat on the sofa with Lucy in his lap. "What happened with Selina? Why would she and Klaus get back together when she made it very clear that wasn't gonna happen?"

Anna shrugged. "I don't know _what's_ going on, but Helene stopped by the house as I was leaving. She asked me if Nick or Alistair were at the house. I wonder why she was so eager to talk to them."

"What would make you think Selina's lost her mind?" Damon asked.

"Well, she called me to come pick up Lucy," Anna said. "And when I got to the house, Lucy was in the living room crying her eyes out and Klaus and Selina were in their bedroom having sex like they couldn't hear a thing, which given the yelling and the crashing, they probably couldn't."

Damon took another look at Lucy and saw that her face was red and that she had the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "Oh, poor kid," he said and hugged her. "Let's go and get you some cookies and then we'll go blow some bubbles in the yard, okay?"

"Bubbles?" Lucy asked.

Damon grinned at her and nodded. "Yeah!" He told Anna goodbye and then followed Lucy to the kitchen where he put her on a chair and she reached into the cookie jar on the table with both hands and began stuffing her face.

A few minutes later, Joshua appeared with Sam. "Something is wrong with Mother, isn't it?"

Damon nodded. "Apparently. And it's a good thing that Sam's not living with her. He could have been left all alone while she was off being irresponsible."

Joshua frowned. "That seems unlike her."

"She's back with her ex-husband," Damon added. "This could be a good thing. Well, not the leaving Lucy alone and making her cry, but the whole ex-boyfriend thing. That might mean I still have a chance."

Joshua shook his head. "I don't think so," he said.

Just then, Sam came in clutching a blue throw pillow from the sofa and hit Lucy with it. Damon was just about to yell at him when instead of crying like he thought she would, she just got off her chair and went to get a pillow of her own and hit him too. They alternated hits until they came within inches of hitting a lamp that had belonged to Damon's mother. "All right," he said, separating them. "If we're going to keep doing this, we'll have to go downstairs so we don't break anything." He picked Sam up in one arm and Lucy in the other and carried them down to one of the downstairs rooms that was large and didn't have any breakables in it. Then, he put them on either side of the room and handed them new pillows. "All right," he said. "Hit away."

They resumed hitting each other and the fight went on for a litle while longer until the two of them decided to turn on Damon. Then he stopped it. "All right, all right," he said. "Enough! Let's do something quiet now. Like read a book."

He brought them upstairs, and then sent Sam with Joshua and he and Lucy chased each other around the yard and blew bubbles.

* * *

><p>"I'm so glad you got here as fast as you did," Helene said, then started when she heard another crash. "Any longer and I don't think Klaus would have any more breakables left."<p>

Elijah took a deep breath. "So where are they?" He asked.

Helene tilted her head in the direction of the main hallway. "In their room," she said. "Follow me." Helene led Elijah to Selina and Klaus' bedroom. "You might want to knock before you go in there," she said. "I already made the mistake of forgetting and boy am I sorry."

"Honestly, I don't think it would matter either way," Elijah said. He walked back to the edge of the hallway and strode toward the door, knocking it in. Selina gasped and sat up. "Most people don't knock like that," she said.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" He asked her.

"I'm having a good time," she said. "But of course you're such a killjoy, you probably don't know what a good time is!"

Elijah looked around the room, at the things that were strewn all over the floor or broken. He pulled the sheet off the bed and covered Selina up with it.

"What are you doing?" She asked. "Why did you come here? Did you want to play too?"

"Of course not," he said. "Helene's worried sick about you. You're going to get dressed and come home with me!"

"And why the hell would I want to do that?" She asked.

"It doesn't matter whether you want to or not," Elijah replied. "You don't have a choice."

Selina smirked. "Oh, don't be silly. Of course I have a choice! I am an emancipated woman, and if you think you can order me about just because you're a man, then you're sorely mistaken."

"Oh, really?" Elijah said to her. "So just jumping into bed with the first man you see is what you decided to do with your emancipation, how you prove that women should be seen as equals to men. Personally, I would have used your intelligence or your spunk because any woman can use her body to get ahead, but that's just me."

Selina burst out laughing. "Well, aren't you smart?" She asked. "Complimenting me in hopes that that'll get you somewhere? But just _because_ I consider myself sexually free and morally emancipated, I am still a responsible, discriminating woman who does not intend to jump into bed with the first wavy-haired, muscle-bound, egocentric male who thinks he can seduce me by agreeing with some of the things I believe in."

"You mean like my brother?" Elijah asked. "How'd you wind up with him?"

"Hey!" Klaus cried. "I'm right here, you know!"

"He's helping me prove a point," Selina said. "He's helping me show myself that women can have sexual relationships with men that involve no emotional attachment whatsoever, just like men do."

Helene opened the door a crack. "How are we doing in here?" She whispered to Elijah.

Elijah leaned closer to the door. "I'm confused now," he said. "She's changed. Now Selina's sounding like she did when I first met her in the twenties rather than like how she is when she's given over to her werewolf self."

Helene shrugged. "Well, she wasn't really thinking logically then, either, was she?" She asked. "I mean, she was so consumed with hurt and rage and the need to destroy men and feel superior that that's how she lived her life. I'd say she's still under the spell. Keep her talking."

Elijah grinned and shook his head. "I have an even better idea." Making sure the blanket was still around her, he picked Selina up off the floor and put her up against the wall, kissing her hard. When he pulled away, she slapped him.

"What did you do that for?" He asked.

Selina was breathing hard. "Well, what did you have to go and kiss me for?"

"Because I think you're beautiful," he said. "And witty, and smart. My life would be so boring without you."

Selina blinked and her face changed from narrowed eyes and a suspicious scowl to a grin before she put her arms around Elijah and hugged him. "Turn around," he said.

She turned around and saw Klaus naked on the floor. "Nicky, for the love of god!" She said, pulling the sheet tighter around herself. "What the hell is going on? We swore we weren't going to do this anymore! We toasted to civilized conversations! Were you lying to me?"

Klaus seemed to have come back to himself and seemed as confused as her. "No, I wasn't!" He said. "You started this. You came on to _me!"_

Selina looked at Elijah. "I didn't, I swear. At least not consciously."

Elijah nodded. "I know." He threw Selina and Klaus their clothes, and when they were both dressed, he opened the door again and called for Helene to come in. She entered the room blushing and looking sheepish.

"Everything seems back to normal here," she said. "That's good. I'll be on my way now. Maybe if I kiss Adrian, I can pry him off of Tessa."

"Adrian's back with Tessa?" Selina asked.

"No, not really. It's because of the spell, like the two of you," Helene replied. "She came over to talk to Adrian about Roxie and Vince. She thinks the two of them should be pulled apart. And when I told her that that would be unwise, she told me it was none of my business and sent me on my way. That's when I got jealous and one ill-timed hand motion later, all werewolves in town lost their rational thought temporarily."

"Well, that explains why the two of them were all over each other when I tried to get the briefcase back from Roxie," Elijah said.

"Did you get it?" Selina asked.

He nodded. "I did. Vince managed to distract her long enough for me to get the case and get out with _practically_ no trouble at all."

Selina sighed. "Maybe I should call Roxie and see if she's all right."

Klaus shook his head. "I don't think that's necessary," he said. "I think she's fine."

* * *

><p>Vince and Roxie pulled apart from one another, breathing hard. "How long do you want to rest before we do that again?" He asked.<p>

Roxie shrugged. "I don't need a lot of break time. What about you?"

"I think I need to get up and move around a bit," he said.

"Are you all right?" She asked. "You seem kind of upset. How can you be upset? We're back together again!"

He turned. "In a way, that's what I'm upset about!"

"Why?" Roxie asked.

He sighed. "I wanted us to wait so I could show you that some things in life were worth waiting for, you know? And now because of this, everything is wrecked."

Roxie put her head on his shoulder. "Oh, no it's not," she said. "I know how to wait for things that I want. I don't like to, but I can."

He smirked and stroked her cheek. "Oh, really? When did you wait for something?"

"A few months ago, I was shopping on the internet and I found these really adorable shoes, but the color I wanted them in, blue, was backordered," Roxie said. "I could have ordered a different color because they had like a gazillion, but the blue went with everything that I own, so I waited an extra two weeks and when they finally came, I was happy because I got exactly what I wanted, even though I had to wait. Isn't that kind of the same thing?"

Vince grinned and nodded, hugging her to him. "Not exactly, but it's a start." Then he kissed her again and moved her underneath him and they did another round on the living room sofa.

* * *

><p>That night, after he put Lucy to bed, Elijah came back to his room and found Selina changing into her pajamas.<p>

"Oh, don't bother with those," he said. "You're not going to need them." She turned around and grinned. "Oh, all right," she said and took them off, running to their bed and getting in. "Today was a crazy day, wasn't it?"

Elijah nodded and got in beside her. "I'm just glad you're better," he said.

Selina sighed. "Well, maybe not entirely. I mean, I'll try and be on my best behavior when your ex shows up, but I can't promise anything. Werewolf females are notoriously jealous of other women in the lives of the men they like. Although I might be all right because the jealousy thing _could_ only apply to Nicky, I don't know. Be prepared either way and know that I am not purposely trying to misbehave. It's all due to my genetics."

He kissed her once and said, "Okay, I'll make a note of that." Then they rolled around under the covers until they were almost too tired to move anymore. Then Selina turned off the lights and they fell into a sound sleep until Elijah was abruptly awakened in the early hours of the morning by the sound of the squeaky lock on the bedroom window. Someone was trying to get in.

"Selina," he whispered, "Someone's trying to get in through the window, but I'll take care of it."

Selina sat up. "How could someone be trying to get in the window? We're on the second floor!"

"I don't know," he said. He went and stood next to window and when it opened and a dark shape tumbled into the room, he grabbed hold of it and slammed it against the wall. They heard a moan and as the shape sank to the floor, Selina managed to get a light on. They saw a pale woman with dark circles under her eyes and stringy dark hair. She gave Elijah a grin and began cackling wildly. "You never were one for subtlety, were you?" She asked. "But really, is that the way to greet your first love?"

"Oh, my god," Selina said. "Elijah, is that-?"

"Yes," Elijah sighed. "Selina, meet Mary Porter."


	18. As Time Goes By

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked as Anna arranged photos of Selina across the mantle.

"I'm helping," Anna said. "I'm disappointed in Elijah. He's so moral, he's making Selina repress a very important part of her life."

"You mean the Lonely Heart thing?" Stefan asked. "If she's not going to tell him about that, maybe we should."

Anna turned around quickly. "Oh, no you don't!" She said. "That's not our choice to make. She'll tell him eventually. And he'll accept it eventually. We just have to get him used to the idea of her having a darker past by first letting him see pictures of her when she was a bad ass, and then easing into her telling him the truth about her past."

"But why start now?" Stefan asked. "Why can't it wait?"

"Because Elijah is coming over in a few minutes," she said. "Apparently an old girlfriend of his showed up early this morning. Climbed right through his bedroom and everything."

Stefan scoffed. "Is she insane or what?"

Anna grinned. "We didn't call her Crazy Mary Porter behind her back for nothing."

Just then, they heard a knock on the door, and Anna went to answer it. "Hello," she said as Elijah stepped inside. "Can I get you anything? If you're thirsty, I've got a nice young man downstairs, or I suppose I could go out in the woods and find a squirrel."

Elijah frowned. "No, thank you," he said. "I just came by for a minute. I'm concerned about Mary."

"Every one of us was concerned about Mary," Anna said. "And yet you dated her anyway."

"Well, she seemed normal at the time," he said. "It was only after I ended things that she lost her mind."

Anna smirked. "Well there was a lot you didn't see then," she said. "A _lot_ you didn't see. Like that time she mutiliated all the cattle at that farm and everyone thought it was because of aliens, and the time that she kidnapped her old boyfriend so she could take some of his blood and wear it on a chain around her neck? Well, that's not the craziest example, but she made a necklace out of another guy's _ear_! And those creepy porcelain dolls she talked to like they were people!" Anna shuddered.

"Anyway," Elijah said, "What am I going to do with her? I can't keep her in my house. Selina wouldn't stand for it and it would be an awful idea to have her around Lucy."

"I don't even see why you're letting her stay at all," Anna said. "Just tell her to go away."

"Oh, I can't tell her to go away," Elijah said. "That will make her angry and she behaves worse when she's angry."

"So how about we have a dinner or something to make her think we want her here more than anything, get her drunk and then kill her?" Anna asked. "We could do that."

"That seems underhanded, Anna," Elijah said.

"She broke into your house at two in the morning and you're freaked out that she's going to hurt Lucy!" Anna said. "It's okay to defend yourself from that sort of threat! Nobody would be mad at you. Where is she now?"

"Mary? I asked Niklaus what he thought I should do with her and he suggested having her visit Selina's friend Olivia. I had no idea they knew one another."

Anna shrugged. "I didn't know that either. If you'd asked me, I would have suggested taking her to the nearest asylum.

Elijah sighed. "But she can only stay at Olivia's so long before she'll get bored and want to come back."

"How about you find some way to distract Selina besides telling her about the party and I'll deal with Mary and Olivia?" Anna asked.

"All right," Elijah said. "Just be careful. I don't have to remind you of who you're dealing with."

"And I'll call Nick and tell him about the party," Stefan said. "I don't think either one of us will want to miss a moment of it."

* * *

><p>"I think Lucy should start learning how to swim," Elijah said as he watched Selina and Lucy play peekaboo. "It would be good for her."<p>

Selina looked up at him. "I don't know about that," she said.

"Why?" Elijah asked. "You can help me. We can teach her together. It'll be fun!"

"No, it won't!" Selina shook her head. "It won't be fun if I drown first. I can't swim all that well. Mama never thought I should learn."

"All right," Elijah said. "I'll teach both of you. Finish playing, get Lucy in a bathing suit, and we'll go find a pool."

* * *

><p>"All right," Elijah said. He was standing on the edge of a pool with Lucy and Selina on either side of him. "Let's get in."<p>

"No," Selina shook her head. "I don't want to."

Elijah put his arms around her. "You don't have to yet. Just stick your legs in the water, then." She did and Elijah dropped into the water and held his arms out to Lucy, who was wearing a pink bathing suit and floaties on her arms. She grinned and took a running leap into the water. Elijah caught her and held on to her. "Can you blow bubbles for me?" Elijah asked her. "I've got you. Just stick your head under the water and blow bubbles." Lucy did so, enthusiastically. Then, Elijah placed Lucy in a round inner tube, and got out and put his arms around Selina whose eyes were shut tight. "It's all right," he said. "Lucy's out of the water now. Nothing will happen to her."

Selina laughed a little and a few tears fell from her eyes. "Sorry," she said. "I know I'm being ridiculous. I know Lucy will be safe with you. _I_ always have been." She reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes and Elijah gently took hold of her wrist. "Don't," he said. "Please let me." He went and kneeled next to small black carrying case and slowly pulled out a light blue handkerchief. "Here," he said, coming back and wiping the tears out of her eyes. Once they were gone, he grinned. "There," he said. "That's better."

"Oh, my god," Selina said, taking the handkerchief from him. "You still have this? I would have thought you'd gotten rid of it years ago."

"Why would I?" He asked. "Those were some of the best days of my life."

Selina grinned. "You're so sweet. You were a good influence on me," she said. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't saved my life."

They sat in silence a moment, then looked down at Lucy who was starting to drift away from the edge. Elijah got back in the water and after taking a deep breath, Selina dove in after him, her previous fears forgotten. She stayed upbeat until, as they left the pool, Elijah told her about the party that Anna wanted to have with Mary and the others. Then she sobered and said, "When is it? I better have time to bake something."

Elijah nodded. "I think you have time. I promise you you do."

* * *

><p>"I smell cake."<p>

Selina gave the chocolated frosting a good stir and then turned around to face Elijah. "Yeah," she nodded. "I'm making one for that little meet and greet Anna insisted we have with Mary."

"About that," Elijah said, "You really don't have to do this if you don't want to."

Selina sighed. "It's okay, really. I'll be fine. But here's your end of the deal: I had to leave Lucy at Damon's since Stefan and Anna will be at the party too, and you aren't allowed to complain about it."

Elijah sighed. "Fine. I'll behave myself if _he_does."

Selina rolled her eyes. "What is going on in your head in regards to the two of them? You'll have to tell me some time." She went over to the cupboard and stood underneath it. "Could you reach?" She asked him. "I need the powdered sugar."

"Of course," he said. He came up behind her and held onto her waist so he wouldn't squish her against the counter and then reached up and grabbed the bag of powdered sugar. As he let her go and handed it to her, she let out her breath. "Thank you," she said. She stirred some powdered sugar into the frosting and put some on her finger to give it a taste. Then she looked up at Elijah and put some more on her finger, holding it out to him. "Want to give it a try and see what you think?"

Elijah grinned and took her hand, inserting her finger into his mouth and slowly sucking the frosting off. Then, Selina stuck her hand in the bowl again and got some more frosting, putting it on her neck. Elijah took her in his arms and slowly licked the frosting off her neck and then the licks turned into kisses as he backed her against the dishwasher, his hand creeping under her shirt and over her stomach.

She put a hand under his chin and brought his lips up to meet hers for a long moment before reluctantly pulling away. "We have to stop," she said. "I have to frost the cake and then put it the refrigerator so it can set."

"Well, all right," Elijah said. "But hurry up, please."

He stood behind her and watched her frost the cake and then snatched off the counter once it was frosted, practically throwing it in the refrigerator before he picked her and up and carried her off to their room where they occupied themselves until Anna came and picked them up for the party.

* * *

><p>"So remind me again why it's not at your house?" Selina asked Anna. She sat in the back between Klaus and Elijah with the cake resting on her knees.<p>

Anna looked behind her from the passenger's seat next to Stefan, who was driving. "I don't know," she said. "Mary just said she wanted to host _us_ and frankly the idea scares the hell out of me."

"Why?" Selina asked.

Anna sighed. "Oh, you'll see."

When she heard that, Selina took one hand off the cake and put it in Elijah's. He squeezed back and the warmth of his fingers was reassuring to her.

When they reached the house where Mary was apparently staying, they went to knock on the door and found that it wasn't locked. They stepped inside, into a room of almost total darkness. They wandered around aimlessly, calling Mary's name but getting no response. Finally, they found her in a pink- painted room that resembled Lucy's. She was on her knees in front of a low table, set with small, delicate play china patterned with pink roses. Several china dolls with missing eyes and cracked faces sat around the table as well.

"Lovely to have you here today, Miss Edith," Mary was saying to one of the dolls. "How was your time on the continent?"

The next moment, she spoke in a high chirpy voice. "Very well, thank you, Mary. The weather in London was so wet and dreary and it was pretty cold most of the time, but otherwise pretty nice."

"Would you like some more tea?" Mary asked the doll.

Just then, Anna cleared her throat. "Hi, Mary," she said quietly. "We made it."

Mary looked at them, nonplussed. "You're late," she said, eyes narrowed. "Miss Edith and I have been waiting and waiting. I had to invite a whole bunch of other people so that my table wouldn't be put completely out."

"Well, we're sorry," Selina said. "But we had to wait for the cake to cool, and-"

Mary smiled. "You have cake? Come and sit! Miss Edith loves cake!"

After a reassuring glance from Elijah, Selina nervously approached the table and took a seat next to a doll with long dark brown hair, an elaborate red dress, and one blue eye. She assumed this was Miss Edith.

"Give Miss Edith some cake!" Mary ordered.

Selina cut the doll a slice of cake and put it on the plate in front of her.

"Where do _we_ all sit?" Elijah asked after a moment.

"Oh, there's no room for you," Mary said. "Go away."

Reluctantly, they left the room and Selina and Mary sat staring at one another. Finally, Mary said, "Would you like some tea?"

Selina nodded. "Well, sure. Thank you." She cut herself a slice of cake and gave Mary one too. Then Mary poured tea for both of them, but when Selina drank it, her throat and mouth began to burn. Mary took the teapot and dumped the rest of it on Selina's bare skin. "Vervain!" Selina whispered, coughing. "Vervain!"

Mary cackled and dumped what tea remained, even though it sizzled on her skin. The sizzling only made her laugh harder.

Selina finally found it in herself to scream, and at the same moment, Elijah burst in the door, picked her up and carried her out. They put Selina in the car and drove as fast as they possibly could.

* * *

><p>"You liked her even in the twenties, didn't you?" Anna asked Elijah as she watched him study the photos of Selina. Selina herself was back at home recovering from her encounter with the vervain spiked tea.<p>

Elijah shook his head. "No, I found her self absorbed, wicked, and childish. I would never like someone like that."

"But weren't you a little intrigued?" Anna pressed. "At the idea of taking a wicked, childish woman and making her a better person? Oh, come on. Don't tell me you never wanted to take on _that_ challenge." She sobered when she noticed Elijah wasn't paying attention to her anymore. "Elijah?" She repeated. "Elijah, what's going on in your head?"

But Elijah didn't hear her. His mind was somewhere else. She was right. He _had_ been intrigued by the idea of taking Selina and making something out of her. And he'd done it, too. And then afterwards, made a decision he'd regretted for years.

_It had happened in late October, just after the papers in Paris annouced that the American stock market had crashed. Underneath the headline announcing the crash was another headline, about a young woman and her husband, who had been murdered horribly on their honeymoon near the Eiffel tower. _

_He'd read the news of the deaths with shock. Similar murders had happened off and on for the past ten years. Each one done by someone the papers called Lonely Heart._

_"She's dangerous," his father had told him. "One of these days, I'm going to find her and put an end to her activities. If I let this go on, our kind will be exposed and more of us will die."_

_"Are you certain it's a vampire committing these murders?" Elijah had asked his father. "Humans can kill just as brutally."_

_Mikael shook his head. "No, it's a vampire," he said. "And a sneaky one. But women always are. Slyly committing misdeeds under our noses and thinking we don't suspect a thing. I mean, think about your mother. Think about what she did."_

_"Does that have anything to do with what's going on now?" Elijah asked him._

_Mikael shook his head. "Of course not, you're right." He paused. "You go home now," he said. "We'll continue our work tomorrow. She's getting sloppy. I think I know where she lives. We'll get her and take her away."_

_Elijah nodded, told his father goodbye, and then got in a taxi and went back to his house. He was just settling in to read when he heard a terrible racket from the house next door, which just happened to belong to Niklaus. Elijah got up from his chair and went to look out the window. He could see into the other house's kitchen from there and as he looked out, he saw that the curtains on kitchen windows were closed. However, he could make out Sera's silhouette against the curtains, along with that of someone who was much bigger and broader than she was. She screamed again, and then Elijah, brought back to his senses, ran out of the house to help her._

_The scene that met his eyes when he reached the kitchen was something he knew he'd never forget. There was blood everywhere. A woman lay on the floor, her neck cut open nearly to the bone. Sera was tussling with the man and managed to knock him to the floor, putting her hand around his throat. "I'll teach you to come in here again!" She said. "You'll be sorry you came back here, but you won't have the breath to say it!"_

_"Sera?" Elijah asked, tentatively touching her on her shoulder. "What happened here? Are you all right?"_

_Her back was to him, but after he removed his hand from her shoulder, she slowly turned. He gasped. Her face and hands were covered in blood, which was also matted in her blonde hair. She stared at him for a few seconds and then broke down. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry. It's just that I've really been on edge these last few days and-I'm scared half to death!"_

_"Why?" Elijah asked._

_She sniffled. "There's a man who keeps following me around," she said. "I've had to move around so often. Just when I think I'm safe, he shows up again. I think he knows who I am and wants to kill me." She looked around. "That's why I killed these two," she said. "I thought one of them was him. I know I should have been more cautious because that's what we talked about, but I just-I couldn't think, and-"_

_"This man who's following you, what does he look like?" Elijah asked._

_Sera wiped tears from her eyes and put her arms around him. "Blond hair, blue eyes, bit of a beard, bit of a moustache..."_

_Elijah stiffened, his hand on her shoulder._

_"What?" She asked. "What's the matter?"_

_"Come with me," he said. He led her next door and into his house, where he pulled out a picture of his father and showed it to her._

_She gasped. "That's him!" She said. "That's the man who's been following me!"_

_Elijah put his hands firmly on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Are you absolutely certain?"_

_"Yes," Sera nodded and sniffled again. "I'd know him anywhere."_

_Just then, the front door of the house opened. "Elijah?" Klaus called. "Have you seen Sera? She's not at home."_

_"I have her here!" Elijah called back. "Niklaus, get in here!"_

_Klaus appeared a few seconds later. "Oh, my god," he said, looking at Sera from all angles. "What's happened to her?"_

_"Someone tried to get into your house," Elijah replied. "We don't know why, but Sera's killed both of them. And something else: she says my father is after her."_

_Klaus' head snapped up. "What?"_

_"He's been following me for the last ten years," Sera said. "Every time I get comfortable in a place, he shows up. If I wouldn't have run, he'd have killed me. And the other day, I thought I saw him in the park."_

_"But why would he want to come after Sera?" Klaus asked Elijah._

_"Well, think of all the time you encouraged her to kill people," Elijah said to him. "It's not exactly the wisest thing to do if you want to stay hidden. Just the sort of thing to attract Father's attention, in fact."_

_"But she's just doing what comes natural to her," Klaus said. "I don't see why that upsets Mikael so much."_

_"The point is that it does," Elijah said. "And the murder of the couple by the Eiffel Tower got his attention. He thinks he knows where she lives and is going to come for her tomorrow. We don't have much time to get her out of here!"_

_Klaus nodded. "Bring her to the train station tonight," he said. "Anna, Sera and I will leave Paris and then Mikael won't be able to kill her."_

_Elijah nodded. "All right," he said._

_Klaus left and Selina looked at Elijah urgently. "I don't want to go with Nicky," she said._

_"What?" He asked. "Why not?"_

_"If I go with him, it'll just mean more running," she said. "He told me that your father has it in for him and Anna as well, so I wouldn't be any safter if I stayed with them. Elijah, I don't want to run anymore."_

_Elijah sighed and nodded, kissing her forehead. "Then you won't have to, Sera. I promise you that."_

_At half past midnight, Sera came downstairs and opened the front door of her house to find Elijah standing on the other side. "Nicky's gone out," she said. "He wanted one last drink with Stefan before we left town."_

_"Very convenient," Elijah said. "That way, we can leave without any complications. I bought a ticket for you on the_ S.S. New York. _It'll get you back to America, safe and sound."_

_"But aren't you coming with me?" She asked. "Didn't you buy a ticket for yourself?"_

_Elijah shook his head. "I can't," he said. "No matter how much I'd like to. My father can't know that I'm helping you. He would think I'm a traitor if he knew that, as bad as Niklaus, even if his suspicions that you're Lonely Heart are absolutely ridiculous. The point is that he thinks he's correct and won't be convinced otherwise, so I have to send you on your way alone. You can do it. You're a brave woman."_

_"I can," she said. "But I don't want to. I don't want to be alone anymore remembering you and all you've done for me. Make me forget. It would be kindest."_

_He shook his head. "I wouldn't do that to you," he said. "Take away the few good memories you have. It's too cruel."_

_He helped her into her car and they drove away from the house._

_"We have to stop by the train station first," she said. "Is there time?"_

_"Well, yes," Elijah said. "You haven't changed your mind, have you?"_

_"No," Sera shook her head, taking an envelope out of her purse. "I wrote Nicky a note, explaining why I can't go with him. I want to give it to the station master so Nicky will get it before the train arrives."_

_Elijah nodded and they headed for the train station. Sera gave up her note and then they left for the docks. She stared at the boat and took a deep breath. "Here," she said, taking a light blue handkerchief out of her purse. "Take this to remember me by, please."_

_He nodded and tucked it into his jacket pocket, watching as she unsteadily climbed the gangplank, her body wracked with sobs. When she was safely aboard, she leaned against the railing and waved goodbye until the boat disappeared into the fog and he could no longer see her._

"Elijah!" Anna's voice sounded harsh and broke into his consciousness with surprising abruptness.

"What?" He asked.

"I've been yelling at you for five minutes!" She said. "What's the matter with you?"

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled the handkerchief out, slowly brushing it against his cheek. "I have to go," he said.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I can't explain," he said. "I'll call you tomorrow. Right now, you'll just have to excuse me." He got up and left the house, leaving a very confused Anna alone in the living room.

Elijah drove to Klaus' house and rang the doorbell. When Klaus answered, he said, "May I come in? I have something I need to tell you."

"Sure," Klaus nodded. "What is it?"

He led him to the living room and looked at him expectantly.

"This isn't easy for me to say," Elijah got out. "But I feel it's only right I let you know. I'm the reason why Selina didn't meet you at the train station in Paris," he said. "The night you made the plans to leave with her, after you left, she told me that she didn't want to run from Father anymore, so I got her a ticket on a ship to America instead. I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you, but if I had, you would have just insisted that she stay with you and I had to do what was best for her. I hope you understand and I'm sorry it took me this long to tell you the truth."


	19. Taking Over

Klaus growled and grabbed Elijah by the throat and shoved him against the wall. "Thank you for being honest with me," he said. "But don't you wish you hadn't?"

Elijah growled and shoved Klaus away. "What is going on with you, Niklaus? What have I done to deserve your anger?"

Klaus smirked. "You're asking me that after a declaration like the one you just made? You're more of a fool than I thought."

"I didn't do anything wrong back then," Elijah said. "Selina told me after you left that she didn't want to run any more. She was terrified. I wanted to get her out of harm's way. If you cared about her as much as you claim you did back then, you'd want her to be safe as well."

"I could have kept her out of harm's way!" Klaus said. "I would have!"

Elijah shook his head. He felt ill. "No, you wouldn't have," he said. "Because you didn't care about her. Not like I did. You would have just encouraged her to keep killing. Why would you do that, Niklaus? Was it because Father was after you and Anna as well? Did you see Selina as a bargaining tool? Did you think that if you got Selina to kill enough, then you could hand her over to Father in exchange for Anna's and your safety?"

Klaus slammed Elijah against the wall again. "It's a sound theory, but no. Selina was the doppleganger, the only one left after I lost Katerina Petrova. What would I have gained from her being dead? What good would it have done me?"

"Do you ever think of anyone besides yourself, Niklaus?" Elijah asked. "I did. When I sent Selina away, I did what was best for _her_, not what was best for you or for me, even though I regretted it afterward."

"So you did love her?" Klaus asked. "Go on, say it!"

With a groan, Elijah managed to push Klaus against the opposite wall. "All right, Niklaus," he said. "I loved her then. Are you satisfied?"

Klaus began laughing. "I can't believe you thought more of your feelings for her than your feelings for your family. We've been down this road before, Elijah."

Elijah nodded. "We have, brother. But this time, things will end differently."

Klaus nodded. "Yes, they will. I will punish Selina for her role in tearing us apart, and then we'll be a family again, without her."

Elijah shook his head. "No, Niklaus. You will not lay a finger on her. I won't let you."

"I don't need your permission," Klaus said. He then pulled a dagger from behind his back and plunged it into Elijah's middle, watching as he dropped to the floor. "I'm sorry I had to do that, brother. I really am," he said. "But I have some unfinished business with your lady love and I can't have you getting in the way of it."

He then took out his phone, made a call, and left the house.

* * *

><p>Aleksandr met Klaus at the bar door. "What did you want from me, Niklaus?"<p>

"Well, why don't we sit and have a drink and I'll tell you," Klaus said.

They walked toward the table and when Klaus got a look at Aleksandr's dining companion, he was so shocked, he bumped into a waiter, causing a bowl of tomato soup on the tray he was carrying to spill all over Klaus' shirt, but he didn't care. After standing frozen a few minutes, he bounded over to the table.

"Mary Anne?" He asked the girl. "Is that you? It's been too long."

"It has, hasn't it?" She asked. "You never call, you never write, even though you could."

"I couldn't," he said, sitting down. "I don't know where you've been all these years."

"She's just been around," Aleksandr said. "I found her when I was walking in the park one day and took her under my wing. She _did_ mention that the two of you knew each other."

Mary Anne nodded. "We did. Until he abandoned me. Probably something to do with Sera."

Klaus cleared his throat and looked at Aleksandr. "Speaking of her, I need some information from you," he said. "Did she ever tell you what her early vampire life was like?"

Aleksandr sighed. "Between floods of tears and bottle after bottle of whisky, she _did_ tell me over the years. Several times, in fact. Apparently, the man who turned her, Doctor Stensrund, had been put under a spell by one Katherine Pierce and her maid Emily to confess his love to Selina and get her out of the way of Damon Salvatore so that Katherine could have him for herself. But what happened was, Doctor Stensrund, who was a vampire, ended up _turning_ Selina. If that was the case, why did you still use her for your hybrids? I thought vampirism made that impossible."

Klaus nodded. "It would have. But Selina has the werewolf gene as well, remember? And if she gets bitten by a werewolf, it turns her human again instead of killing her. Something very handy to remember. Or it used to. Anyway, continue."

"Well," Aleksandr cleared his throat. "Apparently, Selina's early days as a vampire weren't good. Doctor Stensrund wanted her to be a strong, ruthless killer and would chain her in a chair in his attic for days at a time, and starve her, then bring men in from the street and have her kill them. And she'd do it because she was so hungry and had no other choice. It was _very_ traumatizing for her."

Klaus' eyebrow went up. "_Really_?" He asked. "Is that so?"

"Yes," Aleksandr nodded. "I can't believe she didn't mention that once in all the years you've known her."

Klaus shrugged. "If she did, I don't remember it."

"Why do you want to know this?" Aleksandr asked, leaning forward.

"I'm just curious," Klaus replied. "You've been a big help." They got drinks and every time Aleksandr asked Klaus to elaborate on what he meant, he refused. After the drinks were finished, Klaus stood up and left the bar, giving Aleksandr a salute and Mary Anne a grin that she didn't return, then left the bar with a jaunty spring in his step, getting in his car and heading back home. He had a phone call to make.

* * *

><p>"What are you doing, Alistair?" Klaus asked when he got in the house and found Alistair standing over Elijah's body.<p>

Alistair just turned to face him. "What are _you_ doing?" He asked, indicating Elijah's body. "What's the meaning of this?"

"I have something I need to do and he was going to stop me," Klaus said simply. "I will remove the dagger after I have finished."

"What is it that you need to do?" Alistair asked.

Klaus gave Alistair a look. "Elijah told me that he was the reason Selina didn't leave Paris with me. Did you know that?"

Alistair nodded. "Of course I did. I helped plan the whole thing. Are you going to kill me for that? It would be a mercy if you did."

"Which is exactly why I'm not going to," Klaus said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to call my darling ex-wife. I need to have a chat with her."

"Don't do anything stupid," Alistair said. "If you do, you'll regret it later."

Klaus smirked. "Oh, please. What could possibly happen to make me regret taking the vengeance I deserve?"

"I can't think of anything at the moment," Alistair replied. "But there has to be something."

"Go put my brother's body away," Klaus ordered. "I can't have it here. We need to make it seem as though everything is normal."

Alistair narrowed his eyes and sighed. "All right," he told him. "But you remember what I said, won't you?"

"Fine," Klaus said. "I will definitely take that under advisement." Once Alistair was gone, he muttered under his breath, "when hell freezes over."

* * *

><p>"No, I don't have Lucy here with me," Selina said. "She's at Damon's. I dropped her off before we went over to Mary's. Do you want me to go get her?"<p>

"No," Klaus said. "It's all right. Actually, what I wanted to make sure was that Lucy wasn't with you because I need you to come over to the house and pick something up. You _have_ mostly recovered from the vervain, haven't you?"

Selina nodded. "Sure," she said. "I can move around. I'll be there in a few minutes."

She hung up the phone and drove to Klaus' house, but when she got there and went inside, everything was quiet.

"Nicky?" She called. "Are you here? Where's the thing you wanted me to pick up?"

"In our room," Klaus called back. "In the closet. Hurry up!"

"Oh, all right!" Selina said. She began running down the hall and when she reached the bedroom, Klaus opened the door and pulled her inside. When she saw what was on the bed, she screamed. "Oh, my god!" She cried. "Oh, my god, is that Elijah? Nicky, what have you _done_?"

Klaus grinned. "He told me about the plan you two came up with that led to me being left alone in Paris," he said. "Don't you think it would have been nice for you to have mentioned that to me?"

"I left you a note with the manager of the train station!" Selina said, struggling against his iron grip. "It wasn't like you were completely clueless! And I came back to apologize in '42, remember? That was when you threw the fit and-"

Klaus gave her a hard slap and held her face so that she couldn't move her eyes from his. "I don't want to hear another word out of you unless it's an apology," he growled. "Do you understand?"

Selina nodded and Klaus picked her up and sat her down on the bed next to Elijah. She whimpered, but didn't say anything, watching him as he paced back and forth in front of her. "Now, what to do with you?" He asked her. "Because you know I can't just let this go, can I? Do you think that would be fair?"

She shook her head.

"Good," he said. "I'm pleased we understand one another." Then, he suddenly stopped pacing and locked eyes with her again. "Stay here," he said "Don't move." He grinned. "I have a surprise for you. You're going to love it!" Gleefully, he left the room and Selina reached out and stroked Elijah's face, then looked into his frozen eyes and lay down on the bed next to him, sobbing and holding him tight. When she heard the sigh, she sat up, relieved to see Alistair come into the room.

"Are you all right?" He asked her. She pointed at Elijah and then put a hand on her throat and shook her head.

"You can't speak?" Alistair asked her. Selina shook her head.

Alistair sighed and moved some of Selina's hair out of her eyes. "This won't last forever," he said. "And we knew when we made the plan to get you out of the city that this would happen someday."

Selina nodded, looking miserable.

"I'll go get you a drink," he said. Selina nodded and when he came back, he had to run and put a hand on her arm. She was so close to pulling the dagger out. "I wouldn't," he said. "You're in enough trouble already. If you pull it out, it'll be even worse for you, and Elijah will suffer as well. Do you want that?"

Selina shook her head and pulled her hand away from the dagger. "We just have to wait," Alistair said, putting his arm around her. "Let Klaus do whatever he needs to do so that he thinks he's gotten a victory, and then this will all be behind us and we can move on." He handed her a glass of lemonade and she drank it.

After some time, Klaus came into the bedroom again. "Good!" He said to Alistair. "Bring her to the living room, would you?"

Alistair nodded. "All right," he said. He brought Selina up with him and they followed Klaus to the living room. When they got there, they saw three very frightened young men standing against the fireplace, pleading to be released.

"Who are these people?" Alistair asked Klaus. "Why are they here?"

"They're Selina's surprise," he said. "I brought them for her."

Selina's eyes widened and she clung to Alistair, but Klaus managed to pull her away. "Come now, pet," he said. "Remember how you used to enjoy the killing? It used to be fun for you. I'd love to see you do it again." He sobered. "Kill those men for me," he said. "All of them. And be _very _thorough."

He shoved her in the direction of the fireplace and she stumbled toward the first man. When the man saw her coming, his eyes widened and he took off running, but he was no match for her. She tackled him and sank her fangs into his neck, sucking greedily, then breaking his neck and dislocating his arms from their sockets with a deafening _pop._

Alistair winced, watching her. The second man was handled much the same way, only when she looked up from the second man's neck, she was sobbing.

"Stop this!" Alistair said to him. "Don't make her kill any more!"

"Why not?" Klaus asked. "She used to be so _good_ at it. I only wish Elijah could see this. He needs to realize that she's not as perfect as he envisions. Definitely not worth forsaking his family over."

"What is it that's making you angry?" Alistair asked Klaus. "Is it Selina's supposed betrayal, or Elijah's?"

"Do I have to make a choice?" Klaus asked. "Why can't we just say they both deserve what they're getting?"

Alistair narrowed his eyes. "No one deserves this. Especially not the mother of your children. She had every right to do whatever she could to feel safe. I would think that you of all people would have sympathy in a situation like this."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Klaus asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Your mother," Alistair said. "She did the same thing. And Elijah's father didn't take it so well, did he?"

Klaus shook his head. "He didn't. But it wasn't Mother's fault! She had her reasons, and-"

Alistair nodded. "She did. And Selina did too. So get over it, and let this go."

Klaus gave Alistair a sour look and went over to Selina who was crumpled over the second man's body and sobbing. He pulled her up and said, "Do the last one like a good girl, then I'll let you and Elijah go."

"That's not the same thing," Alistair said.

"Well, we can't leave anyone to talk about what they've seen here, can we?" Klaus asked.

Alistair rolled his eyes and left the room. There was no talking to him, at least not for the moment. Selina pushed herself out of Klaus' grip and grabbed the last man, breaking his neck and throwing his crumpled body on the ground. Then she crossed her arms and frowned at him.

"All right, all right," he said. "Just go. Get out of my sight!"

"I'm sorry things had to come to this," Selina said. "And I'm sorry your life is so empty that you can't just forgive wrongs. This attitude of yours will make you lose more than you know. That's what I'm really sorry about."

At that moment, Alistair came back into the living room, clutching the dagger. "You got it out!" Selina said and then hugged Alistair hard before sprinting to the bedroom and shutting the door behind her. She faced the bed and watched Elijah twitch and strain and then he finally sat upright for all of two seconds before Selina ran at the bed and pushed him back against it. "Hi," she said.

"Are you all right?" He asked her. "What happened? Let me sit up, please." She backed up and he looked over her. "You're covered in blood," he said.

Selina sighed. "Nicky compelled me to kill some people," she said. "And he said I had to be _thorough_." She buried her head in Elijah's shoulder. "It was horrible. I wanted to stop, but I couldn't! It was just like when I was first a vampire and Doctor Stensrund made me..."

"Shhh!" Elijah put a finger over her lips. "You don't have to talk about it if it's going to upset you. You can tell me later. For now though, stay here while I go teach my brother a lesson or two."

Selina sniffled. "Just be careful," she said. "Please."

Elijah nodded and kissed her deeply, then pulled away and strode out of the room. Selina heard yells and crashes. Finally, the third crash brought her to her feet and she ran back into the living room. She saw that Elijah had pinned Klaus to the floor and seemed to be about to pull his heart out.

"Don't do that!" Selina said. "Death would be too good for him."

Elijah looked up at her. "I can't just let this go," he said. "He hurt you!"

"And how is killing him an appropriate punishment?" Selina asked. "When there are so many worse ones out there?"

"What could be worse than killing him?" Elijah asked.

"How about not letting him see Lucy?" Selina asked. "Ever again?"

Klaus managed to laugh, even in his current state. "You can't do that," he said. Blood trickled out of the side of his mouth. Selina got down on her knees beside him. "I can," she said. "And I will. I'll make damn sure that you don't see her. Not while you're like this. And don't try to feed me bullshit about how you'll do better. I won't believe it until I see it." She got up. "Let's go home," she said to Elijah. "Let's not waste any more of our time with him. He's not worth it."

Elijah took a deep breath and slowly removed his hand from Klaus' chest, standing up, and then slowly following Selina out of the house without another word, but not before Selina gave Klaus a swift kick in the head.

"See?" Alistair said to Klaus when he came to help him up. "I told you this fit of yours would cost you. I hope you're proud of yourself."

"I don't care," Klaus said. "It's not like Lucy's my only child. I have others. I'll just spend time with them instead. I'll start with Roxanne. I wonder how she's doing?"

* * *

><p>Roxie called Charlie up on the phone. "Can you come?" She asked. "I need help."<p>

"What for?" Charlie asked. "Should I be scared?"

Roxie shook her head. "No, you shouldn't. I just wondered if you knew how to cook."

"Why?" Charlie asked. "Roxie, what's going on in your head?"

"Well, you know the bake sale fundraiser that all the extracurriculars are taking part in tomorrow? I thought I'd contribute," Roxie replied.

"For what extracurricular?" Charlie asked. "You hate all extracurriculars!"

"I'll think of something," Roxie said. "I just need to have four dozen peanut butter brownies made by tomorrow. Could you help? _Please?"_

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll be over in a few minutes." She put the phone down and Tony gave her a look.

"What was that about?" He asked.

Roxie's up to something," she said. "She wants to contribute to the bake sale. Brownies, she said. She wants me to help her make them."

"Well, that's nice," Tony said. "Maybe Roxie's finally embracing the joy of helping others."

Vince scoffed. "Not likely. I found the recipe she's planning on using. She stole it from Frannie Myer."

"Frannie Myer?" Charlie asked. "The head cheerleader?"

Vince nodded. "The very same. The one who got the the principal to promise the cheerleading squad a bunch of extra funding if she made all the brownies for his son's birthday, which he's picking up at the bake sale."

"Oh, god," Charlie said. "The kid who's allergic to nuts? If we make peanut butter brownies and the kid eats them..."

"Then Franny Myer will look bad, won't she?" Roxie asked. The phone was still face up on the counter. She'd heard every word. "And since everyone hates Franny anyway, guess who'll be in the running for student council president? That's right. Me."

Tony scoffed. "You as student council president? That's incredible!"

"Why?" Roxie asked. "I think I'd be good at it!"

"Well, honey," Vince said, "being student council president means you have to do a lot of work and be nice to people and those are two things you don't like."

"Ha ha!" Roxie said. "I can be nice to people if I want to. And why should I do a bunch of work when I can get other people to do it for me? I could have like, an emissary or something. Which one of you wants to be my emissary?"

Vince smirked and picked up the phone. "Roxie, this is a school election. Not a revolution to overthrow a small European nation."

"See, Vince, that's your problem," Roxie said. "You think small! You have to think _big_ when it comes to things like this! It might _start out_ as just a school election, but if I know what I'm doing, and I do, who knows? We _could _be starting a revolution to overthrow a small European country in like a year, two years tops! And a _big_ European country in three years, and in five...the whole world!"

"It would take you _five years_ to take over the world? That's a little slow, don't you think?" Vince asked.

"You're right!" Roxie said. "But no matter. Charlie, are you coming over to help me make those brownies, or what?"

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Roxie. I'm coming."

* * *

><p>When the girls were on their second batch of brownies, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Agnes said.<p>

"No one's going to try and stop her," Roxie said. "I don't see why she insists on announcing she's going to get the door every time someone knocks."

Charlie shrugged, pushing a strand of her long strawberry-blonde hair out of her eyes. "I don't know," she said. "But I wonder who's at the door. Are you expecting anyone?"

Roxie shook her head. "I don't think so. Who is it at the door?" She asked when Agnes reappeared. "It's your friend," Agnes said. "I let him in. I hope that's okay. He wants to talk to you."

"Her friend?" Charlie's eyebrows knitted. "Let me see: Vince and Tony are back at the apartment, I'm here, do you have any other friends I don't know about?"

"Yeah," Agnes nodded. "A blond one. Handsome."

"Oh," Roxie giggled and looked at Charlie. "She's talking about my dad. I just told her parents that he was a friend of mine so they wouldn't freak out." She cleared her throat. "I'll go see him," she said. "Where is he?"

"Living room," Agnes said immediately. Roxie nodded and went to the living room, finding her father sitting on the sofa. "Well, look what the cat dragged in," she said. "What brings you here to see me? Did Mom and your favorite daughter dump you or something?"

Klaus narrowed his eyes. "You watch your mouth."

Roxie sucked in her breath. "Ouch, that must've hurt."

"I'm not kidding, Roxanne," Klaus said. "Shut the hell up!"

Roxie froze. "Well, all right. Geez, I'm sorry. What happened?" She sat down next to him and watched him expectantly.

Klaus sighed. "You really don't want to hear and I don't want to talk about it, so-"

"So why did you come over here, then?" She asked. "There has to be a reason."

"Well, all right," Klaus said. "Your uncle just informed me that he was the reason your mother left me back in '29. He encouraged her because apparently I don't care about anyone other than myself."

Roxie scoffed. "You know, that's absolutely ridiculous, the same sort of thing that Tony and Vince said when I told them I was going to run for student council president at school."

"You are?" Klaus asked. "That's wonderful. I'm so proud of you! What about Charlie? What does _she_ think of all this?"

Hearing her name, Charlie came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl full of brownie batter and a spoon. "I'm here helping her make brownies, aren't I? If that's not supportive, I don't know what is."

Klaus shook his head. "Roxanne, why are you making brownies? You don't need to bribe people with gimmicks to make them vote for you. There's a much easier way."

"The brownies aren't for bribing people," Roxie said. "They're to sabotage a cheerleader who's also running. She's making her own batch of brownies to give to the principal for his son's birthday party and he's going to pick them up at the schoolwide bake sale tomorrow. The thing is, his son is allergic to nuts, so I'm switching out the cheerleader's regular brownies with these peanut butter ones. The kid'll eat the brownies, come down with a terrible case of anaphylactic shock, the cheerleader will get in big trouble with the principal for trying to kill his kid and I will win the hearts and minds of the student population for making the head cheerleader look like an ass." She looked immensely proud of herself.

For the first time, it really seemed like Klaus _saw_ his daughter. He pulled her to him and gave her a hug, and then looked up at Charlie. "They grow up so fast, don't they?" He asked her.

"Yeah," Charlie said because she didn't know what else to say. "I guess they do." She headed back into the kitchen, leaving Roxie and Klaus alone with Agnes, who sat on the sofa across from them looking at Klaus with moony eyes.

"Who's that?" Klaus finally asked Roxie.

"Oh, that's Agnes, she's my minion, remember?" Roxie said. "After I win the election, I plan to have lots and lots of them."

Klaus grinned. "I'm so proud of you! And if your mother were in her right mind, I'm sure she'd be proud of you too. But no matter. You still have me and Uncle Stefan and Aunt Anna. We'll be glad to help you out."

Roxie nodded. "All right. Where to next?"

* * *

><p>That night, after tucking Lucy into bed, Elijah came back into his and Selina's room and sat next to her on the bed. "Are you all right?" He asked her. "Really all right? It seems like Niklaus put you through a lot."<p>

Selina sighed. "It was nothing that I've not done before, I'm sorry to say. It's just that the way he did it brought back to mind the earliest days of vampirism for me. The guy who turned me, he was our town doctor. He delivered me, he delivered my son, he took care of everyone in town, there was not a single person who distrusted him...and he turned me. Katherine got to him. He was part of her plan to get out of being Nicky's doppleganger. She had her witch Emily make up some sort of spell that made him believe he was in love with me and Katherine needed me to turn so that Damon would break up with me and she could have him for herself, it was a very complex thing, and even today I'm not quite clear on the details. But after he changed me and even before, I noticed changes in the doctor's behavior. Where he had once been kind, he was brutal. He no longer was the kindly grandfather type, but a vicious murderer, bringing in innocent men from the streets, the sorts that no one would miss, and then chaining them up in the same room where he'd put me while depriving me of blood so I would just rip the poor souls to pieces to get every last drop of blood I could to slake my thirst. After three weeks, I finally managed to get away, but I never quite managed to rid myself of those feral tendencies, probably because of my werewolf nature in addition to what I learned from Doctor Stensrund, but I didn't like experience of being a total hunter, so I learned to control it, and after I learned how to control it, I was able to live among people and be almost normal. I liked that much better."

Elijah nodded. "Moderation in all things is best, my dear," he said.

She ran a hand up his arm. "And what about you? Are _you_ all right?"

He nodded. "Of course. Niklaus should consider it fortunate that he daggered me before I saw him hurt you, otherwise he would have been worse than dead."

Selina leaned against him. "I know he would have. You were doing a pretty good job of making sure of that. I'm almost sorry I stopped you."

He kissed her forehead. "Were you serious about stopping him from seeing Lucy?"

She nodded. "Of course. Do you really think she should be around him when he's like that?"

Elijah shook his head. "Of course not. Maybe when she's older, but now, after this, I just couldn't leave her with him."

"Then we're in agreement," Selina said. She nibbled on his ear. "So are we going to have fun tonight, or what?"

Elijah shook his head. "I think we've had enough fun for one day. You've been through a lot and I think it would be best if you went to bed."

Her head was already on his shoulder, her eyes half-closed. "But I'm not sleepy."

He sat her up and went and got pajamas out of her dresser and helped her put them on, then tucked her in. "Good night," he said. She shut her eyes and when he moved away from the bed to get off his clothes and she was sure he wasn't looking at her, she opened one eye and watched him undress. She squealed into her pillow and when he turned to face her, she shut her eyes, but giggled anyway. Rolling his eyes and grinning indulgently, he shut off the light, climbed into bed beside her, put his arm around her and closed his eyes.


	20. Hot and Bothered

Damon was sitting on the sofa in front of the television with Sam on his lap. They were watching a black and white film that Damon had found hidden in one of the boxes in the basement. "I used to be someone," Damon said to Sam. "People used to love me. Everyone in the world. Then it all ended."

"What _is_ this exactly?" Joshua asked, appearing behind the sofa and watching the screen intently. "My god, Father. Is that _you_ in this film?"

Damon turned. "Yeah. I used to be in the movies. I can't believe you didn't know that. You were around then, weren't you?"

Joshua nodded. "Well, of course. And I saw your films, but it never occurred to me that it was actually _you._ I mean, you had a different name and everything! Does Mother know about this? I think you should tell her."

Damon shook his head. "Oh, she knows," he said. "And we don't talk about that. It wasn't a good time for either of us. And I thank _you_ for that, by the way."

"What did _I_ do?" Joshua asked, taking a seat next to Damon on the sofa. Damon got up and turned off the television and then sat back down. "Did you or did you not tell your mother to look out for me at some point?"

Joshua nodded. "I might have said something like that...at one point."

Damon scoffed. "Well, she kept her word. Way too well, if you ask me. _Around 1930, after Selina got back from Europe and back into cold, harsh, Depression Era-Reality, she remembered the promise she made to you. I assume she looked everywhere around town, but she didn't find me right away. Finally, one day she decided to go see a movie and guess who's face was on the poster in the front lobby. That's right, Mine!"_

"What happened after she saw you in the movie?" Joshua asked.

"She ran into some girls who were members of the Virginia chapter of my fan club and they got on a train headed to California. When they arrived at my house, a very elegantly decorated place, they just wanted to hide in the bushes and wait for me to come out, but _she_ got inside. I don't know how. I gave my butler strict rules about who to let in and out."

"You compelled your butler not to let Mother into the house?" Joshua asked. "That's not very nice."

"Well you have to remember, that's when I still thought that she'd cheated on me with Doctor Stensrund. Given the circumstances, I had every right to be upset." Damon said defensively. "So," he continued: "_She got inside the house. she probably could have gotten in without compelling anyone. she looked presentable enough; rose colored trench and matching cloche hat with a rose print dress underneath, and she told me later had had a plan to pass herself off as a journalist if she ran into anyone difficult. She found me in my bedroom with my little entourage, probably five or six incredibly dumb looking women, three blondes, three brunettes, hanging all over me. She shoved them all out and got down to business._

_"Damon? Do you know who I am?" She asked. I said nothing but just looked at her, my gaze going in and out of focus. Then, I got up and ambled over to dresser where her picture sat."_

"You mean the picture she gave you before you left for the war?" Joshua asked.

"Yes," Damon nodded.

"If you were mad at her," Joshua asked Damon, "why did you keep her picture around?"

Damon shrugged. "Maybe because it helped me remember who she was rather than the person I thought she'd become and that was a comfort to I saw her, I grabbed the picture, stared at it, and then gulped down the rest of a half-drunk bottle of whisky that was on the dresser. Then, I threw the bottle down and it smashed all over the Persian rug. I wanted to scare her. To show her how angry I was that she'd come. She stared at the bottle shards for a minute before I finally found the words to ask why she'd come.

_"Why did you come?" I asked, wiping away some of the whiskey that was dripping down my chin. My eyes were bloodshot, my white undershirt was stained, and my hair was covered with sweat. "Were you so lonely that you swallowed your pride and came to see me?"_

_"No," she said, her upper lip twitching. "I didn't come for you. I came as a favor for somebody else._

_"At that, I burst out laughing. "Don't lie to me, Lina. You want me, I can see it in your eyes._

_"Those girls that were just here," she said, "they only like you because you have money and fame. They don't want you for you. And from the looks of you, I don't blame them. You're a mess! You and this whole room smell like alcohol, sweat and cheap cologne." She went over to the picture next and picked it up again. "From the looks of this, it's not me who's lonely. Why can't you just admit that you made a mistake?"_

_"Because I didn't make a mistake," I said. "You're the one who cheated on me and left. Doesn't the idea of commitment or your responsibilities mean _anything _to you?"_

"_Oh, please," she scoffed. "You're a war deserter and you're lecturing me about responsibilities and commitment?" She'd gone too far. I brought up my hand to hit her, but she grabbed my wrist before my hand made contact with her face. "I'm going to leave," she said. "I can't look at you like this anymore. You disgust me."_

_"Fine," I said. "Go. But you'll be back._

_"She reached the door and put her hand on the handle, then she turned. 'I almost forgot why I came here. It was because I wanted to give you a message from someone. But now I don't know if I should, because I doubt you'd care.' She left the house and I guess she went back to her hotel. I hope she spent all night thinking about how lonely she was without me. She must have, because later, she came back to me._

_"I knew that she would be coming and I was waiting for her at the door. I'd cleaned up and was wearing silk lounging pajamas this time and smoking a cigarette. "I knew you'd come back," I said._

_"She glared at me. "You know what? Don't flatter yourself. I'm long overdue."_

_"I just grinned and led her to my bedroom. 'Whatever you need to tell yourself so that you feel better', I told her."_

"So she spent the night in your bed," Joshua said. "But something tells me life wasn't a bowl of cherries after that."

"No," Damon shook his head. "The next morning she left again, before I'd even woken up. Didn't leave me a note or anything." He sighed. "I didn't hear anything from her for a couple of weeks. When I next saw her, it was at a movie theater near my house. She was an usher at the theater, and it was a Friday night. I can't remember the film that I saw, but it was the last show of the evening and after it got over, everyone left. But as I drove away from theater, I realized I'd left something in my seat. I drove back to get it and found a figure stretched out over a row of four or five movie seats, covered with a blanket. I touched the figure gently and they jumped about a mile. When the blanket came off, I was shocked to see that it was your mother.

_"Selina, what in the world are you doing here?" I asked. "The theater is closed! Don't you have a home to go to?"_

_Selina paused and then sat up. "I could go to Doctor Stensrund's house, but I don't want to. Too many bad memories. I've been sleeping in the theater ever since I left your house, compelling the guard every night to look the other way."_

_Damon scoffed. "But that's absolutely ridiculous," he said. "Why don't you just come back home with me and stop being silly?"_

_Selina growled and threw the blanket aside. "You would just love that, wouldn't you?" She asked. "Making me dependent on you, as if I'm not capable of making a life for myself without your help!"_

_"Look at what you're doing," Damon said. "Look at how you're living. Sleeping on a row of movie theater seats is a far cry from the plantation we both know you grew up on."_

_"Well, maybe it is," Selina said. "But that doesn't mean I should just come home with you."_

_Just then, she heard a squeak and her eyes widened as a small mouse darted out from one of the theater seats in front of her. She let out a shriek and practically jumped into Damon's arms. He grinned. "Are you all right?"_

_She took a deep breath. "Maybe it would be wise if I did come and stay with you for awhile," she said. "But I refuse to cook or clean or have sex with you."_

_"Well, that doesn't seem fair," Damon replied. "I offer you shelter and yet I get nothing in return."_

_"I don't see why you'd want anything like that from me," she said. "You hate me after all."_

_Damon's eyebrow went up. "People don't have to like each other to find themselves in bed together. It's nice of course, but not a necessity."_

_"I would have to be drunk out of my mind to do something so foolish," she replied. He ran his fingers through her hair. "Drunk or very lonely. Either way, you know where you're going to end up."_

Joshua was looking at his father in shock. "You weren't at your best then, were you?" He asked. "You must have really hated her to act so cruelly towards her."

Damon nodded. "I _do_ regret what I did, now. That's something I never told her."

"So did she end up in bed with you?" Joshua asked. "I only ask because I want all the facts."

Damon nodded. "Yes. We lived uneasily together until 1931, drinking the day away and waking up to horrible hangovers the next morning. Then your mother decided she couldn't take it anymore and ran off to Doctor Stensrund's house and it was years until I saw her again."

"Next time you see her, you have to tell her you're sorry," Joshua said. "You just have to."

Damon nodded. "All right, I will. But who _knows_ when I'll see her again?"

* * *

><p>"I'm back!" Elijah called as he entered the house. "Have we figured out what's wrong with the air conditioner yet?" He walked into the living room and his eyes widened. "What is going on here?" His eyes were locked on Selina, who was lounging naked on his new sofa.<p>

"Hi!" She said brightly when she saw him. "Apparently, the AC is just broken, that's all. I called someone but apparently lots of people have broken air conditioners and the guy said he'd come when he came."

"I see," Elijah replied. "I assume you didn't tell them you weren't wearing anything when you called," he said dryly. "If you had, they'd probably come faster."

Selina smirked. "Oh, don't be silly. That would be placing an obscene phone call and it's against the law. They have people who monitor these things."

"I don't want to ask how you know that," Elijah said. "Would you just get dressed? Please?"

Selina shook her head. "No, it's too hot to wear clothes. And it's not like I'm just letting everyone look. I shut the windows. Did you notice that?"

Elijah sighed. "Well, I guess that's a start. Where's Lucy?" Just then, he heard a giggle and Lucy came running out of the kitchen. She wasn't wearing clothes either.

"And why isn't Lucy dressed?" Elijah asked Selina.

Selina shrugged. "Because she didn't want to be, and I decided it wouldn't do any good to try and force her. In fact, she gave _me_ the idea." She looked over Elijah's suit and shirt. "You want to join us?" She asked. "You'd probably be more comfortable."

Elijah shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm fine."

Selina stood up and grinned, striding toward him and pushing him back against the wall. "Are you _sure_?" She asked. She began untying his tie and pushing off his jacket. "It's _so_ hot in here. If _you_ were the repairman and you knew I wasn't wearing anything, would you come faster? Come on, show me."

Elijah grinned, removing his jacket and shirt. "Well, I consider myself to be very reliable," he said. "Why don't we meet in the bedroom and you can tell me what the problem is." Then, he felt a tug on his pant leg and looked down to see Lucy gazing up at him.

"Can I help you?" He asked her. She held up her arms and he picked her up and carried her off to her room before returning to Selina. "Now," he said, "where were we?"

Selina grinned and leaned in. "I was about to tell you about the problem I was having with the air conditioner."

He nodded and took her hand, leading her to their room. "So," he said, pushing her against the wall, "what seems to be the problem?" He began kissing down her neck.

"Oh, well, the air conditioning doesn't work," Selina said, moaning as his hand snuck under her shirt and then he picked her up and carried her over to the bed, then climbed in after her, looming over her. She gazed up at him, her eyes wide. "The air conditioning doesn't work, and it's very hot in here."

Slowly, Elijah's lips curled into a grin. "It _is_, isn't it?" He ran his hand in slow, gentle strokes down her body. "Well, I'm afraid things will get worse before they can get better." He got up on his knees and unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. She shrieked with excitement and bucked upward, and then he kissed her deeply, and as he kissed her, she heard a click. She twisted around and saw that he'd taken one of her hands and cuffed it to the bed post.

"Well, what did you have to do that for?" Selina asked. "It's not very sporting to do that to someone."

"Well I had to think of some way to make you stay put while I did my...repairs," he said. "I've been waiting for years for the opportunity. Consider it payback."

Selina rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. I remember exactly what you're talking about and it wasn't _that_ bad! There's no need for _vengeance_! I was perfectly within my rights to want to have a job and goals. You haven't changed at all, have you?"

_It was 1925. Sera had bullied her way into a job at a newspaper, and after getting on the wrong side of a local politician, she'd been unceremoniously thrown in jail and watched them throw away the key._

_"You can't keep me in here like this!" She called. "This is false imprisonment! I demand you let me out! In America, we would-" The jailer leaned forward and grinned. "Ah, yes, but you are not _in_ America, madamoiselle, and even in America, I'm sure they frown on people blowing up the houses of their politicians with bombs."_

_She tried to catch his eye to compel him to let her out, but he wouldn't look at her. Finally, he said, "I suppose if a certain amount of money were to exchange hands, then I could allow you to call someone to come and speak on your behalf."_

_"Fine," Sera said. "I'll find someone! You believe I will!" She gave him his money and he handed her the phone. She tried to call Nicky, but he wouldn't answer. After several other non-responses, she called her last resort._

_"Hello?"_

_"Alistair!" She said, her voice full of relief. "Is Elijah home? I have to talk to him."_

_"Why?" Alistair asked._

_"Well, is it so strange?" She replied. "Surely you're not suggesting that I'm the first woman to ever want to talk to Elijah."_

_"Just a minute," Alistair said. Soon after, Elijah came on the line. "Sera, hello."_

_"Hello," Sera said. "I need help. Would you do something for me?"_

_"Of course," Elijah replied. "I'm at your service. What is it that I can do for you?"_

_"I seem to have gotten into a bit of trouble," she said. "I've been arrested and they put me in jail! Could you come and put in a good word for me so they'll let me out?"_

_There was silence on the line, and then a sigh. "All right," he said. "I'll come, I suppose."_

_After he got Sera out of jail, they had a lot to talk about on the way back to Elijah's house, where he'd offered to put her up until Nicky returned._

_"I'm rather thirsty," she said when they were sitting in the living room. "Do you have something cold?"_

_He nodded and brought out two glasses and a bottle. "I have champagne." He poured a glass and handed it to her, and then poured another for himself._

_After taking a sip, she looked at him speculatively. "I bet you're wondering how I ended up in jail," she said. "Are you?"_

_"I'm not surprised," he said. "But if you feel like you need to tell me, go ahead."_

_She nodded and cleared her throat. "As you know, I'm a reporter, and-"_

_"A reporter?" He cut her off. "Why?"_

_"Oh, you disapprove?" She asked him._

_"Of course not," he said. "But I _am_ a little surprised."_

_She smirked. "Oh, you don't have to be polite to me. I would feel better if you were honest and admitted that you disapprove of what I do. A woman doing a man's work is competitive, sexually as well as economically. I'm glad I had to call you to come and get me out, and do you want to know why? Because we need to talk. We've never really been on good terms and I think it's because you're threatened by me and that's that. It's that simple."_

_He shook his head. "It's hardly that simple, but let's discuss it, shall we?"_

_She nodded. "All right. Let's discuss it fully and completely, right from the beginning. Do you want a wife, a companion, or just a woman? I'm well aware of what Nicky prefers, but you, I'm curious."_

_He averted his eyes and shook his head. "There are certain things we shouldn't discuss."_

_"Why?" Sera asked after taking another sip of champagne. "Men discuss their relationships with women. I know Nicky's told you about me."_

_Elijah nodded. "But I am nothing like my brother. Gentlemen like myself _don't_ discuss their relationships with women."_

_"Ah," Sera said. "But _I _am not a gentleman. I'm a woman."_

_He nodded slowly. "Indeed you are."_

_"Then say it," she said, standing up and looking at him with challenge in her eyes. "What's expected of me? I'm an emancipated woman and you're an emancipated man."_

_Elijah shook his head again. "There are certain things that should remain implicit between men and women."_

_"Why?" Sera asked._

_Elijah shrugged. "Because that's the way it's been for thousands of years and I see no reason to change. I am a creature of habit."_

_Sera grinned and shook her head. "All the more reason."_

_He eyed her critically. "Now you're using your female attractiveness as a weapon."_

_She shook her head. "Equality, real equality of the sexes bothers you, doesn't it?"_

_He gave her a long look, but said nothing before getting up to fill his glass. She got up and followed him indignantly. "I can speak, read and write French, Spanish, and Italian."_

_He didn't look up. "So can I, plus twelve other languages."_

_"I can drive any car there is!"_

_"So can I," he said. _

_She looked around and saw a pair of foils on the wall and threw one at him. "I won the women's international fencing competition! En garde!"_

_He smirked. "Very well," he said. They exchanged parrys and thrusts for a little while before he knocked her blade out of her hand and pushed her back onto the sofa, looking smug. "Maybe if you'd won the _men's_ international fencing competition," he said. He started to walk away. "Wait!" she said. "Don't turn your back on me!" She grabbed hold of his arm, kissed him, and, pulling out a pair of handcuffs, cuffed them together after he dropped his foil to bring his arms around her. "You dropped your sword," she said. "That means I win. Now we'll talk this out!"_

_He looked at the cuffs, then at her. "All right," he said. "Let's talk." and pulled her to himself, kissing her deeply. She resisted at first, but then relaxed into it, feeling tingles all over her body. When they finally pulled apart, she growled as she realized that he'd managed to take the cuff off himself and put it on her other wrist. "Hey!" She said. "What did you have to do that for? It's not very sporting to do that to someone."_

_"If you'll excuse me," he said, looking out the window. "I have somewhere I need to be, but I see my brother has arrived home. I'll take you back to him." _

_"You're afraid!" She cried as he put a hand on her back and guided her out of his house, handing her off to Klaus. "You're afraid of a real woman!"_

_"Give it up," Klaus told her. "Elijah isn't one to change his mind easily. It's futile to even try." _

She let out a shriek as he pushed into her and then narrowed her eyes at him. "You made me look stupid then and you make me look stupid now!"

He grinned. "I don't know why you're so upset," he said. "You always seem to like it, especially when I do _this_." He eased his tongue inside her and moved it around a little. She let out a squeal of delight despite trying to stay serious.

"Well, _fine_," she said. When they paused to take a break, Selina was breathing hard. "I'm hot," she said. "Aren't you?"

He nodded. "I know where there's ice. I can bring you some."

She nodded and he left, returning a few minutes later, carrying a small cooler. He put it on the bedside table and grabbed a large chunk of ice, running it along her body. The cold made her shiver, but it was oddly pleasant. When he was running the third piece of ice over the inside of her thigh, the phone rang.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'll get it. You stay right here." He put a robe on and left the bedroom to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Elijah, Mary Anne has some news she wants to impart to us, news about our mission," Mikael said. "Come over to the house immediately."

"All right, Father," Elijah said. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Why the long face?" Selina asked when he returned.

"I have to go to another meeting," he said. "I'm sorry. But we can continue this tonight. Do you have somewhere you can go that has air conditioning?"

"Sure," Selina nodded. "I'll find a place. Don't you worry about me."

Elijah nodded. "Just remember to dress before you go outside, no matter how uncomfortable it might be."

* * *

><p>"Well this is a surprise," Damon said when he opened the door to find Selina and Lucy on the other side. "What brings you here?"<p>

"The air conditioning at Elijah's broke and no one can fix it until later. Can we hang out here for the day?" Selina asked. "Or would it be inconvenient for you?"

"Oh, no," Damon said. "Come on in."

They came in and Damon took Lucy out of Selina's arms. "Let's take that jacket off you," he said to Lucy. "You're probably hot in that." He started to remove her little red raincoat, and then Selina handed him a plastic bag with underwear, socks and a dress in it. "She's not wearing anything under her coat," she said. "Here's some stuff I brought to change her into. I thought you'd have better luck with that than I did."

Damon took the bag and as he did, he noticed that Selina's clothes were damp with sweat and sticking to her body. "Do you want to take a cold shower?" He asked her. "You can do that while I get Lucy dressed."

Selina looked down at herself. "I _am_ a bit of a mess, aren't I? But I don't blame you for noticing. When a kid walks past a candy store, you can't fault him for looking in the windows as long as he doesn't go inside. A shower _would_ be nice, but will you be able to handle both Sam _and_ Lucy?"

Damon nodded. "It won't be a problem."

She nodded and made her way to the bathroom, starting when she saw that Damon had followed her in. "What's up?" She asked. "Can I help you?"

"Actually, I just came to tell you to use the cotton towels," he said. "They'll be gentler on your skin."

She nodded. "Thank you. And thank you for letting Lucy and me stay like this. I remember how difficult things were the last time I _had_ to stay with you, after I got back from Europe."

He nodded. "I was just thinking about that earlier, actually. They had one of my movies on. I recorded it. You want to watch it and have a good laugh?"

She nodded. "Sure. After I get done in here, I'll come and meet you and the other two in the living room." She paused and then to Damon's surprise, she gave him a brief hug before quickly pulling away. "You smell like baby shampoo," she said. "You're not sneaking Sam's are you?"

He nodded. "You caught me. Maybe just a little. But you wouldn't believe how soft it makes your hair. Go ahead and feel. I don't mind."

Selina hesitantly reached out and ran her fingers through his hair for a moment before taking then out. "Wow," she said. "You're right. Maybe I should buy Lucy a bigger bottle and start stealing hers."

"It might be a change," Damon said. "I'll leave you to get cooled off and I'll go take care of Lucy."

She nodded. "All right. See you in a bit."

* * *

><p>"Well, well, well. Look who's here!" Selina froze at the edge of the living room. "Stefan," she said. "What are <em>you<em> doing here?"

Stefan, who held Sam in his lap, shrugged. "I just came to visit my brother and my nephew. Do you have a problem with that?"

Selina shook her head. "No. And it's nice you came to visit."

Stefan grinned. "You thought there was some other reason I came, didn't you?" He asked her. "Like Nick would have told me what happened between him and you and that I came to yell at you about it."

"Well, did you?" Selina asked. "It's not like that would be new behavior from you. Berating me about things that aren't your business."

"Well, whatever you think, that's not why I came. In fact, I'm more worried for you than anything else," Stefan said. "You haven't told Elijah anything about you, right? Anything that you did?"

"Well, no," Selina said. "I mean, he knows some of it. He knows that his father _suspected_ me of being Lonely Heart, but it's not like he believes a word of it. In fact, that's why I left Nicky. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life running from his father, so Elijah put me on a boat and sent me back to America. He didn't come with me because he said his father wouldn't take kindly to him consorting with a possible murderer."

Stefan burst out laughing. "Well, then he missed out on a great opportunity, didn't he?"

"What do you mean?" Selina asked. "Should I be pleased or insulted?"

"Well, think about it," Stefan said. "His father thinks you're a murderer and wants you caught. Elijah knows this and also knows you want him to be with you. He could have killed two birds with one stone if he'd just told his father that he knew where you were and then offered to do some undercover work. But it figures he wouldn't have the imagination to think of something like that. What do you see in him, really?"

Selina narrowed her eyes. "Nothing you'd understand," she said. "I don't really like to think about what my life was like before I met him. It wasn't nice."

"But it happened," Stefan said. "And you can't forget it just because it's something Elijah won't want to hear about. What kind of relationship can you have if you can't be honest with each other?"

"Oh, I won't forget what I did," Selina said. "You and Anna and Nicky won't let me. If I feel I need to talk, that's what I have the three of you for, right? Now let's not talk about this any more and watch the movie."

After the movie ended, Damon looked down and saw that Lucy had fallen asleep in his lap. "Well, that's nice," he said.

"Little kids don't appreciate art," Selina said, taking her so that Damon could get up. Sam had fallen asleep earlier and Selina had put him to bed and was ready to do the same with Lucy. "But_ I_ liked it."

Damon grinned. "I know you're lying through your teeth, but thank you."

"You're welcome," she said.

"I have to run," Stefan said. "Anna and I are meeting some friends of ours for a game of tennis since the weather's so nice."

"Vampire friends?" Damon asked.

Stefan nodded. "Well, of course." He looked at Selina. "Just remember what I said, all right? Damon told me about what happened between you when you came back and it sounds like you gave up a lot when you left Paris."

Selina nodded. "I did. America was in a Great Depression and so was I. But it got better. No use dwelling on what's already happened."

Once Stefan was gone, Damon looked at Selina. "Could you hold down the fort for a little bit? I have an errand I need to run."

Selina nodded. "Of course. Knock yourself out."

"You're a doll," he said, and left the house.

* * *

><p>Helene opened the front door and started. "Damon, what are you doing here?"<br>Damon cleared his throat. "I know I shouldn't ask you this, but I need a favor."  
>"From <em>me<em>?" Helene asked, looking surprised. "I don't know if you really _do_ want any favors from me. Remember what happened last time I tried to do magic around you. It's too risky. I'm sorry, I can't."  
>"But I need you to make it so I won't feel anything for Selina any more," Damon said. "That's all."<br>Helene shook her head. "I definitely shouldn't do that. It's risky enough to toy with love when a witch's magic is functioning well, much less when it's screwed up. You could end up not being able to ever love again. Is that what you want?"  
>Damon nodded. "Well, yeah. It's not like I'll ever be able to have a fully functioning relationship again."<br>Helene sighed. "I don't know about that. Let's just see, shall we?" Damon followed her into the house and sat down across from her at the kitchen table. She shuffled a tarot deck and laid out a line of cards. The first one turned over was The Lovers.  
>"Well, well, well," Helene said. "Isn't this interesting?"<br>"What does it mean?" Damon asked.  
>Helene grinned. "Well, I think you can guess, but if you want a precise answer, in some traditions, the Lovers represent relationships and choices. Its appearance in a spread indicates some decision about an existing relationship, a temptation of the heart, or a choice of potential partners. Often an aspect of the asker's life will have to be sacrificed; a bachelor(ette)'s lifestyle may be sacrificed and a relationship gained (or vice versa), or one potential partner may be chosen while another is turned down. Whatever the choice, it should not be made lightly, as the ramifications will be lasting." Helene paused. "Want to see the rest of the cards?"<br>Damon shook his head. "I don't think that's necessary. So when you say 'an aspect of my life will have to be sacrificed', does that mean that if I want to have this new relationship, I'll have to give up my attachment to Selina?"  
>"Well, not entirely," Helene said. "But giving up thinking of her as a romantic partner would be wise."<br>"Who is this other person?" Damon asked. "The one who'll replace her?"  
>Helene shut her eyes and after a long pause, she said, "Lucy. It'll be Lucy."<br>Damon's eyes widened. "What? How do you know?"  
>Helene held out her hand. "You wanna see?"<br>He nodded and took it. All of a sudden, the room began to spin. When everything was still, they found themselves standing in an art gallery. Lucy was standing next to an abstract painting chatting with a group of older people. She wore a lavender button down shirt, a black, midlength skirt and dark purple flats. All of a sudden, Damon saw himself stride into the gallery and Lucy step away from the group and follow him to a corner.

"Hey!" She said. "You made it, thank you!"

He grinned. "How could I miss your big debut? You were talking to lots of old people. Any of them interested in buying anything?"

She nodded. "Yeah, actually."

He pulled out a small box and gave it to her. "Happy birthday," he said. "Go ahead and open it."

"You didn't have to," she said when she opened the box and saw a necklace with her first inital on it that was covered in little diamels. He put it on her and then she looked around as if to be sure no one was watching them. "I have something for you too," she said. Then she leaned forward, put her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.

There was a _flash! _and Lucy was sitting on her bed and Selina was next to her. "I'm glad the show went well," Selina said. "That you sold a lot."

Lucy nodded. "I'm glad too."

"I have a question though," Selina continued. "A lot of your paintings, the man in them looks like Damon. Why is that? Is there something you want to tell me? I won't judge you, I promise."

Lucy looked uncomfortable. "Well, Mom, it's like this..."

There was another _flash! _and they were in Damon's bedroom. Just then, he noticed that Lucy was leaning against him on the bed and neither of them were wearing anything at all. "Well, that was something," she said to the him that was sitting on the bed watching her. "It's a good thing Sam's out with his band. Can you imagine how awkward it would have been if he'd come in here and _found _us?"

"Well, Sam sleeps in the basement now," He told her. "He hardly ever comes up here. I don't think we have anything to worry about." She moaned and kissed his shoulder. "Good," she said. "That's really good..."

With the last flash, they were back in Helene and Adrian's kitchen. Helene came around and put a hand on Damon's shoulder. He looked badly shaken. "Are you going to be all right?" She asked. "Can I get you anything?"

He shook his head and got to his feet. "Thank you," he said. "You've been a big help." He stumbled out of her house and got into his car, driving back home, and when Lucy held up her arms for a hug, he turned away from her and strode off, causing her to burst into tears.

* * *

><p>"So what is it you want to tell us, Mary Anne?" Mikael asked.<p>

"I finally saw Klaus again," she said. "Are you still after him?"

Mikael nodded. "He's not my primary target, but I can't say he's no longer a person of interest."

Mary Anne looked at Aleksandr. "Tell him what you told Klaus about Sera," she said. "You shouldn't keep that from the group. About how when she was first a vampire, she was miserable and her creator made her kill all those people."

"Did she tell you this?" Mikael asked, looking at Aleksandr.

Aleksandr nodded. "She did. Is it pertinent?"

"Well, we know that the woman Mary Anne calls Sera may very well be Lonely Heart and since she and Niklaus were involved once, it might behoove us to get more information from him. Would you do that?" Mikael asked Mary Anne.

She nodded. "Of course. You should have seen his face when he saw me. He was so happy."

"I can do one better," Elijah said. "I know where Sera is now. I could be with her, gain her trust, and when the time is right bring her to you."


	21. I Do Cherish You

"I wouldn't be so hasty," Mikael said. "We're not even certain that she's really done anything yet, are we?"

"But those murders on the boat," Elijah said. "Didn't we decide that it was Lonely Heart who did them?"

Mikael shook his head. "That's _not_ what we decided. We decided that it _could_ have been Lonely Heart. Or it could have been a copycat. But I suggest you keep Sera under observation. Be her friend, but don't let on that we suspect her of anything. If she _is _Lonely Heart, we don't want to give her a reason to run away again. Am I clear, Elijah?"

Elijah nodded. "Yes, Father." He turned to leave the house and Mary Anne followed him. "Would you drop me off at Klaus'?" She asked him. "I assume you know where he lives."

Elijah nodded. "Of course I know," he said. "Come on, it's not that much of a drive from here."

* * *

><p>When Elijah got home, he went up to Selina who was sitting on the sofa and pulled her to her feet. "Come with me," he said. "We have to talk. It's urgent."<p>

Selina looked worried. "What's going on? Has something bad happened?"

Elijah sighed. "Well, yes and no. Just come, please."

"All right," Selina nodded and let Elijah lead her to their bedroom. "So what's going on?" She asked when the door was closed. "What's got you so worked up?"

"You know those meetings I've been going to?" He asked her. "The ones that made me need the briefcase?"

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "What about them?"

Elijah stood in silence a moment, a muscle in his cheek twitching before all the words spilled out of him. "I was with my father," he said. "My father and Aleksandr. They've been working together and they saw it on the news after you killed that couple on the boat and now he thinks that Lonely Heart's back, or someone trying to copy her. He's really suspicious of you and he still wants you dead!"

"_What_?" Selina asked, looking shocked. "Oh, my god! What am I going to do? Should I be packing now? Are we going to be on the run? This is _exactly _the sort of thing that I wanted out of when I asked you to put me on the boat back to America!"

"All right, calm down," Elijah said. "It's not as bad as you think. Father strongly suspects you, but he's not certain, so he asked me to do some undercover work. He wants me to watch you twenty-four hours a day and inform on you if you kill anyone else."

"Well, I don't plan to do that!" Selina said.

"Then we shouldn't have anything to worry about," Elijah said. "But just in case..." He gestured for her to go stand by the bed and he got down on one knee in front of her.

"Oh, my god," she said. "What is this? What are you doing?"

"I wish this could have happened at a better time," he said. He held out a ring box that he got out of his jacket pocket. "Selina, will you marry me?"

"Oh, my god," Selina repeated. "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "Of course I am. I wouldn't ask if I wasn't."

Selina nodded. "Well, all right then. Of course I'll marry you. It won't make your father too happy, but the point is, it'll make both of _us_ happy."

He stood up and hugged her. "Exactly," he said. He kissed her and then let her go.

Selina stood shyly balancing on one foot. "So we're engaged," she said to Elijah. "We're engaged and your father's after me."  
>Elijah put his arms around her. "Try not to think about that," he said. "You know I wouldn't let anything happen to you."<br>She sighed and leaned against him. "You wouldn't would you?" She reached over and started to undo the buttons on his shirt, but he grabbed her wrist. "No, no," he said. "We're not going to do that."

"Well why not?" She asked. "We're engaged! Isn't that something to celebrate?"

He nodded. "Yes, and we'll have some champagne later. But we're going to sleep in separate rooms until our wedding. It'll be better that way."

Selina cocked an eyebrow. "Better how?" She asked.

He locked eyes with her. "Well, won't our wedding night be more special since we waited?"

"But we haven't waited!" Selina said. "We've been going to bed with each other ever since I divorced Nicky. Do you want me to pretend I'm a virgin too?"

Just then, Lucy toddled into the bedroom and Selina picked her up. "Do you want me to pretend I'm a virgin too?" She repeated. "Because," she indicated Lucy, "here's evidence that I'm not."

Elijah averted his gaze and walked out of the room without a word. Selina stood alone in awkward silence for a few moments and then went out to find him.  
>"What's the matter?" She asked when she finally did. "You're really serious about this waiting thing, aren't you?"<p>

"Yes," he nodded. "It would mean a lot to me if we did. It would allow us to explore other parts of our relationship before we get married and get to know each other on a deeper level."

Selina sighed. "Well, all right," she said. "If it means that much to you, I suppose I can wait. But don't let this engagement last forever. I can only hold out so long. _Especially_ since it's you we're talking about."

He smirked. "Well, I would _never_ want you to suffer that much," he said. "I suppose you're going to tell everyone you know now?"

"Actually, I don't think I should tell many people," Selina said. "I've been through enough weddings with your mother to know I want her out of the loop unless it's absolutely necessary for her to know."

"Are you going to tell _your_ mother?" Elijah asked. "I think you should."

Selina groaned. "But I don't _want_ to!" She whined, stomping her foot. "My mother will be even _worse_ than your mother."

"We have to tell one or the other," Elijah said. "If you don't tell your mother, I will tell mine. Think of the lesser of the two evils here, Selina."

Selina shut her eyes for a moment and the horrifying memory of the first monstrous wedding dress Elissavetta had ever bought her floated into her mind: it had been big and white and poofy with mountains of silk, satin and lace. She'd hardly been able to move.

"I'll tell my mother," she said. "I _swear_ I will, even though I know I'll regret it later."

"Go now," Elijah told her. "It's best to get it over with quickly."

She nodded and darted out of the house, but her first stop wasn't at her mother's. It was at Stefan and Anna's.

* * *

><p>"Your brother is out of control!" Selina said when Anna opened the door.<p>

"Well, what happened?" Anna asked. "What's wrong?"

Selina sat down and held out the hand that had her engagement ring on it. "Well, first he gave me this. See it? Isn't it _shiny_?"

Anna's eyes were as big as saucers. "Oh, my god. He didn't! So, when's our wedding?"

Selina shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. But given the big price I had to pay for it, it'll probably be _days_ away."

"What do you mean?" Anna asked.

Selina swallowed. "Well, he told me after he gave me the ring that he wants to stop having sex until we're married. He says it's going to make our wedding night more 'special'. He was absolutely serious about it too."

Anna patted her on the shoulder. "Oh, you poor kid."

"And you know what else?" Selina asked. "He told me I had to tell my mother about the engagement, otherwise he'd tell yours, and I think we're all well acquainted with what happens when your mother hears the word 'wedding'."  
>Anna nodded ruefully. "We certainly are. So I won't tell her. And I won't tell Nick either because I assume <em>he<em> won't want to hear about it. Oh, and you can't tell him either," Anna said to Stefan, who was coming into the living room.

"Tell who what?" Stefan asked.

"Elijah and I got engaged," Selina said. "And we don't want Nicky or Elissavetta to know about it because they will either pitch a fit or throw a party and I'm not in the mood to deal with either."

"Hard as it may be for you to believe," Stefan said to Selina, "Nick and I do talk about other things besides you."

"Well, good," Selina said, ignoring the insult. "Then you should have no trouble keeping your trap shut about this."

Stefan nodded. "Definitely. We'll be too busy figuring out Roxie's student council campaign to even _think_ about your wedding."

Selina froze. "Roxie's running for student council? When did that happen?"

"A short time ago," Stefan said. "But I wouldn't want to bore you with the details. You have a wedding to plan, after all."

"But-" Selina said.

Stefan grinned, shook his head and walked away, and Selina turned back to Anna. "Do you have any idea what he's talking about? What sort of trouble is Roxie planning now?"

Anna got up slowly and pulled a paper out of the trash, handing it to Selina. "Read page five," she said.

Selina opened the paper up and gasped. There was a black and white picture of her daughter standing with her arm around a young boy who looked frightened and exhausted. Behind her, a tall, balding man with dark hair stood with his hand on her shoulder. The headline above the photo read "Local Angel Saves Principal's Son During Flare Up of Peanut Allergy." Selina scoffed. "Please tell me this headline isn't referring to Roxie."

"Oh, it is," Anna said. "Apparently, the girl who's the head cheerleader at Roxie's school made a deal with the principal to make a whole bunch of brownies for his son's birthday. Roxie found out and switched the regular brownies with peanut butter ones without the cheerleader's knowledge because she knew that the boy was terribly allergic to nuts and if it seemed like the cheerleader was deliberately trying to hurt the principal's kid, it would also hurt the girl's bid for student council president, whereas if Roxie _saved_ the boy, she'd have a lock on the presidency for sure."

Selina shut the paper. "I would say 'you're kidding,' but I know you aren't. It sounds much too much like something Roxie would do. But as long as the boy is okay and Roxie is going after a goal other than killing people, something that will give her substance, then I suppose I can't be _too_ angry." She picked up the paper again and scoffed. " 'Local Angel'? Who writes this crap?"

Anna offered to go with Selina to her mother's, but Selina decided it would be best if she went alone. She bid Anna goodbye and grudgingly set off. When she reached her parents' house, she lingered in the car until Caroline came out the door and down to tap on the window. Then she rolled it down. "I was going to come in eventually," she said. "I was just preparing myself. I'm not a creep or anything."

"Oh, I knew that," Caroline said. "I was pretty sure it was your car and I mentioned it to your mother and she suggested I come out and check."

Selina opened the door and got out, following Caroline to the house. "How thoughtful of her to remember that I like to ease in to our meetings." Then, Caroline's eye caught sight of Selina's ring.

"My _god_!" Caroline gasped. "Where did you _get_ that?"

Elijah gave it to me," Selina said. "He proposed today. That's what I'm here to tell Mama about."

Caroline gave her a hug and then sprinted into the house leaving Selina to follow in her wake.

"What is this Caroline tells me about you being engaged?" Amelia asked. "Who is he? Have we met him?"

Selina nodded. "Yes, you've met him. It's been awhile, but you have. I'm sure that if Daddy wants to meet him again, it'll be all right with him."

"Well, who is he?" Amelia repeated, looking eager.

"Elijah," Selina said. "Nicky's brother."

Amelia breathed a sigh of relief. "I hoped it would be him," she said. "You've been around so many men, I wasn't sure, though. So have the two of you given any thought to your wedding?"

"Mama, I've not even been engaged that long!" Selina said. "Only for a few hours!"

"Well it's never too early to start, is it?" Amelia asked. "I'll throw you something grand. This is the first wedding of yours I've had the opportunity to do that for, you know."

"But it doesn't need to be big," Selina said. "Actually, I would prefer if it were more intimate..."

"But why?" Amelia asked. "The whole world should know how fortunate you are!"

"I don't care if the whole world knows," Selina said. "I just want close family and friends to come. I don't need a whole bunch of people at my wedding just to fill up seats."

Amelia just grinned at her. "I know you aren't much for details dear, so just leave everything up to Caroline and me and you won't have to worry a jot."

Selina rolled her eyes and left. Her mother telling her not to worry just made her worry more.

* * *

><p>Elijah had gone to tell Alistair about the engagement and when he returned at nightfall, he found Selina alone in a flour-covered kitchen cradling a bottle of wine. "You know, that was for both of us," he said gently.<p>

She looked at him bleary-eyed and burped. "Well, here," she said. "You can have the rest of it. Although I'm afraid there's not much left. Sorry about that."

He took the bottle from her and shook it a little. She was right. There wasn't much left. He grabbed a glass and poured the tiny bit from the bottle into it. "I assume your meeting with your mother didn't go well?"

"Well, there weren't any surprises there," Selina said. "I knew she was gonna hijack the whole thing and she did. What really did it for me was when I got back here and realized that I was gonna be sleeping by myself tonight. I figured, since I won't be having sex, I have to replace it with something else, right? Well, first I made brownies, like a gazillion brownies. Lucy helped and as you can see, we made a _giant_ mess, but I'm too tired to clean anything up now. Anyway, I made the brownies cause I thought I was gonna eat them and _then_ I realized that if I did that, I probably wouldn't fit into my dress. So I threw a bunch of the brownies away and gave some to Lucy before I put her to bed, and then I remembered about the wine and I drank it and now I feel sleepy."

"Well, you should go to bed then," Elijah said. He swallowed what was in his glass, then picked Selina up and carried her to one of the other bedrooms where he tucked her in. "Good night," he said. "See you in the morning."

Selina turned away from him and fell asleep. He turned off her light and left her room to get ready for bed himself. He was just about to fall asleep when he heard a knock on his bedroom door. He got out of bed thinking it was Lucy (she was big enough to know she had to knock before entering a room now) and went to open the door. Instead, he found Selina on the other side, wearing a red bathrobe.

"I thought you were asleep," Elijah said. "And remember what we decided? Until we get married, you're going to stay in the room where I put you and I'm going to stay in here."

"I _know_ that," Selina said. "I jus' wanted to show you what I got under my bathrobe." She undid the tie and the robe fell to the floor, showing Elijah that Selina wasn't wearing anything at all. She grinned and pushed him against the bed. "I wanna give you a goodnight kiss, _all over_ your body," she said. When he climbed into bed, she followed, still talking against his ear. "And when I get down far enough, I'll-" She whispered something in his ear that made his eyes widen. She giggled and started kissing him. She was as thorough as she promised and while she was still buried under the covers, he heard soft snoring under the blankets. He lifted them up and slowly pulled her toward him, thinking that it was good she'd finished before falling asleep. He grinned and situated her so that she was lying on top of him with his arms around her, and, grinning, fell asleep himself.

* * *

><p>When Selina woke up the next morning, her head hurt and she felt nauseous. Probably because she'd drunk so much the night before. She looked down and saw that Elijah was underneath her and that she was naked. "Okay," she thought to herself. "Maybe if I get off him before he wakes up, he won't know what I might or might not have done. I mean, I'm pretty sure we didn't do anything, cause I'd <em>remember<em> if we did, but he's so anti-sex right now that it wouldn't hurt to be sure."

She managed to get off him without waking him and ran to the bathroom to throw up. A few minutes later, she heard a knock on the bathroom door. "Are you all right in there?" He asked. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"No, thanks," Selina said quickly. "I just had a little too much to drink last night. That's all. I'll be better in a few minutes."

"Are you certain?" Elijah called back.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm sure. But thanks for offering." He didn't _seem_ to have noticed anything unusual. That was good. Now all she had to do was not let on what she suspected. If _he_ was fine, then _she_ was fine.

She stepped out of the bathroom and saw that he was still grinning at her. "Are you all right?" He asked. "You seem nervous."

"No," she shook her head. "What would I have to be nervous about?"

He shrugged. "I don't know." They stood in silence a moment, then she put on a pajama tank top and shorts and said, "I think I want breakfast. What about you?"

He nodded. "You go and get Lucy and I'll be in after I shower and dress. Are you certain you're all right? I promise this is the last time I'll ask."

She nodded. "I'm fine, thanks. I'll see you in the kitchen." She watched him head into the bathroom and then left to get Lucy and make breakfast. It seemed like a muffin day.

By the time Elijah got into the kitchen, he found Lucy eating Cheerios and Selina just sitting at the table drinking coffee. He kissed the tops of both their heads and Selina looked up at him. "Want some coffe?" She asked him. "And I've got a batch of muffins coming out in a little bit, if you're interested."

He nodded. "Sounds wonderful. But why is Lucy eating Cheerios then?"

Selina shrugged. "She seemed hungry, so I thought that I'd give her a small bowl to tide her over. Why are you in such a good mood?"

Elijah inhaled. "Oh, I don't know. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and I'm here with the two of you. Why shouldn't I be happy?"

"Well, I'm not saying you _shouldn't_," Selina said. "I'm just saying that it's unusual for you. Anyway, so you _do_ want a muffin when they're done?"

Elijah nodded. "Please." He sat down next to Lucy and took her in his lap. "Actually," he said to Selina as she opened the oven door and carefully took the muffin pan out. "There's another reason why I'm in such a good mood. I had a dream last night. A very good dream."

Selina put the pan down on the counter and turned. "Oh, really?" She asked. "What about?"

"You were in it," he said. "You came into my room and you...how do I put this delicately? You got into bed with me and you were very..._enthusiastic_, I think would be one word. _Thorough_ would be another." When he saw her eyes widen, he said, "What?"

She took three of the muffins and put them on a plate and put the plate in the center of the table. "It's strange that you mention having a dream like that," she said. "Because I think _I_ had the same dream. And when I woke up this morning, I was in your bed and I was naked! I mean, I've never actually had a history of sleepwalking before, but do you think that might have been what happened?"

He shrugged. "It's possible. Is stress one of the things that can bring on sleepwalking? Because I believe that with your mother taking control of our wedding the way that she is, you _might_ be experiencing some stress. That has to be it, because I _know_ you would never consciously break your word to me about not having sex again until after we're married."

"As hard as it is, I wouldn't," Selina told him. "And Mama's not going to have _that_ much control," Selina said. "I'm going to have a talk with her and tell her that she can _help_ plan, since it seems to be so important to her, but I'm going to make it very clear that I get final say on all the details."

"You will be tactful, won't you?" Elijah said.

Selina nodded. "Of course I will. I'm always tactful." She noticed that Lucy was reaching for a muffin and she broke one into small bites for her before handing it over. She took one of the pieces of muffin and put it in her mouth, smiling. "Nummy!" She said.

Selina grinned. "Thank you." She patted Lucy on the head and ate her own muffin before picking up her plate to go put it in the sink. "Can I take anyone else's dishes?" She asked.

"Oh, don't be silly," Elijah said. "Sit down. I'll take yours."

"Well, all right," Selina said. "Thank you." She gave him her plate and he took the two plates and went to put them in the sink. Then they watched Lucy eat and when she was done, Elijah looked at Selina. "What are you going to do today? Damage control?"

"Well, I think I should at least check on Mama's progress," Selina replied. "I mean, I know I only told her yesterday, but she's about as quick as your mother when it comes to stuff like that. I'd be surprised if she hadn't mailed out invitations, bought the cake and found the reception hall already."

"Well if you suspect she's already done that much, you might want to run and run fast," Elijah said. "Good luck and remember to _be nice_!"

* * *

><p>"Oh, you're here!" Her father said when he opened the door. "I was just about to call you and tell you to come over."<p>

"How much has Mama gotten through already?" Selina asked after she stepped inside. "Everything?"

Her father shook his head. "Not quite. But she _does_ have several ideas you might want to take a look at."

"Why?" Selina asled. "Because I'll like them, or because I'll think they're horrible?"

Her father patted her on the shoulder. "They aren't necessarily to your taste. I thought I'd prepare you in advance."

Taking a deep breath, Selina thanked her father and hurried into the kitchen. She stood in open-mouthed shock as she looked around. The walls were covered with various colors of dress fabric, the table was hidden under what seemed to be hundreds and hundreds of placecards and her mother was consulting with two men in sweater vests about cake samples.

"...And this one is lemon with white frosting," one of them said as Amelia bit into a slice of cake. "What do you think?"

"I like it," Amelia said. "Let's do this one!"

"No, we aren't," Selina said to them. "I would like a chocolate cake, please. Or red velvet if you need to have something fancier. Red velvet cake would be okay. But I don't like lemon."

Amelia looked disappointed. "I suppose we can do chocolate cake if it's what you want. Even if it's not traditional in the slightest."

"And lemon is?" Selina asked. "Mama, I don't care to have what's traditional. That's not who I am. And before we go any further with this wedding planning, I would like to make one thing clear: you can assist me with all the wedding details since it's so important to you, but I will have the final say on everything. Not you."

Amelia's jaw dropped a little. She looked at Selina's father, who had just come into the kitchen. "Did you hear that, Matthew?" She asked. "Did you hear how she just spoke to me?"

Matthew nodded. "I did. And what's so wrong about letting her decide the details of her wedding?"

"Well, I would be perfectly happy to let her, if I could be content with the fact that she'd make good choices. This is a wedding that will have a lot of important people in attendence. It has to have some dignity," Amelia said. "And having a buffet and one of those silly little things where people sing songs to background music with the words on the screen isn't dignified!"

"Mama, you've obviously forgotten what the man I'm going to marry is like," Selina said. "He wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I made everything tacky and I don't plan to, so will you just trust me?" She went over to the wall and felt all the fabrics. "I want the bridesmaids dresses in red."

"I was thinking blue would be prettier," Amelia said.

Selina turned. "Well then let's compromise and go with purple." She grabbed a pad of paper off the counter: "Dress fabric: purple. Cake: Devil's food with cream cheese frosting." She looked up at Amelia. "What's the next detail?"

Amelia grabbed a folder off the table next to the phone. "I made some calls and here is a folder full of sketches of possible wedding dresses for you. I'm afraid none of them are as short as you're used to, but..."

"Actually, I _want_ a longer, more dignified dress," Selina said. "Just nothing with a hoopskirt. Like how about this?" She pulled out a sketch of a long white gown with cap sleeves and criss-crossing fabric on the bodice and two snow-flake-like accents, one on the right bust and the other just under the left bust, which flowed into a long white skirt with a substantial split down the front and a lace underskirt.

"That slit's a bit risque, isn't it?" Amelia asked, eyeing the sketch doubtfully.

"It'll allow me more freedom of movement while still being somewhat conservative," Selina said. "Let's go get it, please, Mama."

"Is that the dress you picked?" Caroline asked, coming into the kitchen and looking at the picture. "I like it. I think it's pretty."

"Mama doesn't," Selina said. "She thinks it's _risque_."

Amelia sighed. "I had hopes that you'd go for something a bit more conservative, but I suppose if that dress is the one you want, I won't stand in your way."

She, Selina and Caroline went to get the dress and decided on blue roses for Selina's bouquet and that they would all wear flats instead of heels. They got to the dress shop and found the dress Selina wanted, bought it and got back to the car. "We've decided on cake, flowers and your dress," Amelia said. "I think we'll continue with guests tomorrow."

"There's no need for that to be a big long discussion," Selina said. "The only people _I _want at my wedding are Caroline, you, Daddy, and Nicky's sister Anna. That's it. That's all I need. And Lucy. Can't forget about Lucy. Everyone else on the table was doubtlessly a friend of yours that I don't know and as much as I appreciate that you want a full house, it's just too much for me. Can't you understand that?"

Amelia nodded. "I guess. Helen Fell said exactly the same thing when we were planning your first wedding."

Selina frowned. "Why would you have been planning my wedding to Damon with Tommy Fell's mother?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call what Helen and I were planning a _true_ wedding," Amelia said. "Just a little get together with friends. And if Tommy had happened to propose in the middle of it, then what a nice surprise for all of us."

"But what about Damon?" Selina said through her teeth. "When I first told you that we were engaged, you were happy about it! You talked to Giuseppe and everything! I remember this very distinctly. It was the same day that Damon told me he was going into the army..."

_The carriage bumped over the ruts on the water-soaked and muddy road, but Selina didn't mind. She looked fondly down at the locket. It had finally happened. Despite the interferences of Louisa Forbes (among other girls), Damon had finally given her something to show his intention to marry her._

_She wasn't surprised, of course. She'd known forever that they were going to be married. And she'd hated all the waiting. With a sudden jolt, the carriage came to a stop in front of her mother's house. A few minutes later, the carriage driver came around and opened the door for her, helping her out. She thanked him, and as he sped away, Mama came running toward her._

"_I'm so glad you're here!" her mother cried, throwing her arms around her. "It's been ages since I've been able to get over to the Salvatores'. How are you? Are you all right? Is something wrong?" She pushed her daughter away gently and looked her over. "You seem all right," she said._

"_Yes, Mama. I'm fine." She nodded and gently unclasped the locket. "I'm also engaged."_

"_What?" her mother asked. "When did this happen?" she took the locket from her daughter and looked it over. "Is this solid silver?" she said to herself. "I think it is."_

"_It happened just a few days ago, Mama." She said. "The same day he told me he's signed up at the recruitment office."_

"_Damon's decided to go and fight the Yankees?" her mother asked. "Good for him. I'm certain his father is very proud."_

"_Oh, yes," she nodded. "He is." She looked around. "Mama, can we go inside? It looks like it's going to start raining again."_

"_Of course dear," her mother said. "I'm sorry." She followed her mother inside. And they sat at the kitchen table. Her mother brought coffees, and they drank them in silence. Finally, her mother said "are you worried?"_

"_No," she shook her head. "Why should I be worried?" she paused. "Is it because of what happened to Papa?" she asked. "Are you afraid that Damon's going to go off to war and die and I won't be able to be married after all?"_

"_I'm saying it's a definite possibility," her mother said. "I never considered it when your father left. He and I were swept up in the glory and mystique and never bothered to face the cold, hard truth. When the officer came to tell me he'd died…" she paused to wipe her eyes with her handkerchief._

"_I'm sorry, Mama," she said quickly, feeling herself start to tear up. "Let's talk about something else." Just then, the doorbell rang and she got up to answer it, not surprised to see Damon on the other side. He said he would come by."_

"_Have you told her yet?" he asked. "What did she say?" he stepped into the entryway. Then, he got a good look at her. Tears were falling down her cheeks. He wiped them away. "What's the matter, Lina?" he asked. "Are you all right?"_

_Those words echoed strangely, and he repeated them again, shaking her gently. She nodded and hugged him back. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just so happy."_

"I was happy _you_ were happy," Amelia said. "Personally, I was hoping you would have picked someone more conservative to marry. Like Tommy Fell. Luckily, this time you have, so I'm not worried at all."

Selina shook her head. "If you didn't want me to marry Damon, why didn't you say anything?"

"Would you have listened if I had?" Amelia asked. "Besides, Damon was going off to war anyway. It was more than probable that he wouldn't come home alive. I wanted your last memories of him to be happy ones." Amelia said very matter of factly.

"And then you would have married me off to Tommy Fell the second you found out Damon was dead?" Selina felt like her mother had slapped her. "How can you be so _cold_, Mama? If Damon would have died on the battlefield, I wouldn't have married anyone else afterward because I _love _Damon, maybe in a different way than I used to, but unlike you, I believed then and I believe now that a woman doesn't need a man to complete her, and I don't care if it would have made people shun you or me. I spent way too much of my life watching you deal with what happens when you lose the man you love and then marry someone else just because you think you have to be married. It wasn't a pretty thing to have to witness and I sure as hell would have never put myself through it. I value myself more than that. I'm just sorry you don't." She then looked sheepishly at Caroline who was sitting against the car window, eyes wide. "Sorry you had to hear that, Caroline." She leaned forward and whispered to her mother's driver: "I would like to go to Damon's, please." She gave him the address and when they arrived, Selina left the car without a word to Caroline or her mother, heading straight for Damon's front door and knocking with all her might.

"Where's the fire?" Damon asked as she strode into his house without answering. He had to jog to keep up with her. "Lina, are you all right? What's the matter?"

Selina sat down on the sofa, grabbed one of the throw pillows and began pulling the stuffing out. "I can't _believe_ my mother," She growled. "Just when I think she can't get any more nasty, she pulls out the atomic bomb of nastiness. I'd like to rip off her head and stick it on a pike! I'd like to-" She paused as Sam grabbed another pillow and began pulling the stuffing out of it too. Then, she took a deep breath and slowly put the pillow down, picking up Sam to cuddle him instead.

"Well, what happened?" Damon asked.

"We were doing wedding stuff today because Elijah and I are engaged now, and when I said I wanted just a handful of people at the wedding, she starts going on and on about Tommy Fell and how she and his mother had planned a wedding shower for Tommy and me."

Damon frowned. "Why? You were engaged to _me_. When we told your mother, she seemed happy enough."

"She was just humoring us," Selina said. "She knew that you were going off to war and that you'd most likely die, so she wanted my last memories of you to be pleasant ones."

Damon grinned wickedly. "And they _were_, weren't they?"

Selina nodded. "I'll say." She hugged Sam to her. "But can you believe that? I mean _really_."

"It doesn't come as a surprise to me," Damon said. "Do you remember how bad I was? Or did you miss all that?"

Selina shrugged. "I mean, I knew what people said of course, but I never really believed it. I saw you with Lucy vision." She paused. "By the way, I'm sorry I didn't bring Lucy with me. I know how much you like her."

Damon's eyes widened. "What? Of course I don't like her! What would make you think that?"

"Would you relax?" Selina asked. "What's wrong with you?"

Damon laughed uneasily. "Nothing. I'm sorry."

"Maybe you should get out more," Selina said. "Take a night off for yourself once in awhile. Think about it, would you?"

"Sure," Damon said. "Sure I will." He looked at Sam. "Sammy, let's show your mother the tower you made, all right?"

Sam took her hand and led her to his bedroom, where a very impressive block tower stood in the corner. "Did you build that?" Selina asked Sam. "Did you do it all by yourself?"

He grinned and nodded. "Yes."

"Hey!" Damon said playfully. "No you didn't!"

"Okay," Sam said. "Daddy help."

"That's better," Damon said.

"You two go and and stand on either side of it," Selina said, pulling out her phone. "I want to get a picture of you and your masterpiece."

They posed and she snapped the picture.

"How about I take one of you two?" Damon said. Selina went and stood with Sam and Damon took another picture, then looked at Selina. "One more with all three of us?"

She nodded. "If you can get over here quick enough, sure!"

He left to get another camera and set it on a table, then ran over to stand with Sam and Selina just in time for the camera to flash. Selina took a look at it afterwards. "I think this is frameworthy," she said, showing it to them. "We should put it next to the one of Joshua in the living room."

"Do you have to go now?" Damon asked her.

Selina shook her head. "No, why?"

"Because Sam's been really into piano stuff lately and I was wondering if you'd show him a thing or two. You still play, don't you?"

Selina nodded. "Yes, actually. And I'd love to."

Damon picked Sam up and the three of them trooped to the music room where Selina took a seat at the piano and Damon and Sam took seats on a chair situated nearby. Selina stretched out her fingers and then placed them on the keys. "So what sort of thing do you boys want to hear?" She asked.

"Something peppy," Damon said. "None of those etudes by that Chopin guy like you always used to play. They're too..._pretty._"

Selina rolled her eyes. "Chopin wrote some of the most complex, beautiful music ever. But I suppose I _do_ have to consider my audience." She got off the piano bench and opened it, taking out a stack of sheet music. "Let's see what we have here." She flipped through several pieces before one finally caught her eye. "Here we go! Joplin's 'The Entertainer'. You can even dance to that." She began playing and at one point, Damon and Sam _did_ get up and dance for a little bit.

"Now if only I could have a picture of _that_, then things would be perfect," Selina said as she watched them out of the corner of her eye.

"You would _love _one, wouldn't you?" Damon asked.

"Yes," Selina nodded. "I would." She finished the piece with a flourish and Damon and Sam both applauded. Then, Selina spun around on the bench to face them. "Has Sam had lunch yet? I'll make him something."

"Sure," Damon said. "Do I get anything to eat too, or just him?"

"I suppose I could make something for both of you," Selina said and picked Sam up, carrying him out of the music room and into the kitchen. She made sandwiches, celery and lemonade, which they all ate outside.

"Have you talked to Stefan since he and Nicky decided to help Roxie out with her campaign for school?" Selina asked.

"Yeah," Damon nodded. "I heard it from Roxie herself, actually," Damon said. "She babysits Sam for me sometimes. She's actually very good with him."

At the mention of Roxie, Joshua appeared beside Selina, wearing the same slackjawed expression as his mother. "You let Roxie watch Sam?" Selina asked.

"I don't think it's a good idea either," Joshua said. "She's evil! She's the whole reason why I'm here! She-"

"Did you say something?" Selina asked Damon. "I thought I heard a voice."

Damon gave Joshua a look that caused him to disappear and shook his head. "Nope. I didn't say a thing."

Selina went back to her sandwich. "I must be hearing things then."

"Are you mad at me about Roxie?" Damon asked.

Selina shook her head. "No, I'm not. If you're comfortable with her being your baby-sitter and Sam doesn't seem negatively affected, I will trust your judgment on the issue."

After they finished lunch, the three of them built another block tower and watched a movie, and after the movie ended, Selina's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Selina, where did you go?" Elijah asked. "Your mother called me in a panic because she said you had some sort of fit today."

"I did not have a fit," Selina said. "And if I _had_, it would have been totally justified. She told me something that didn't make me very happy. I'm with Damon and Sam right now, but if you want me to come home, I will. Is Lucy behaving herself?"

"Of course," Elijah said. "And you don't have to come home yet if you don't want to. I just wanted to make sure you were all right."

Selina nodded. "I'm fine." She told Elijah goodbye and turned her phone off. "He was just checking up on me," she told them. "He does that sometimes. Mama told him I had a fit."

Damon nodded. "Yeah, we heard. So, would you like to stay for dinner before you go, or-"

"Are you cooking?" Selina asked. "And have you fed today?"

Damon nodded. "I did. What about you?"

Selina nodded. "Yeah, I did."

"So what are you in the mood for?" Damon asked. "Hamburgers?"

Selina nodded. "Sure. Why not?"

After dinner, she hugged both Sam and Damon goodbye and got in her car to head back to Elijah's.

* * *

><p>"Sorry I was gone so long," she said to Elijah. "It's just that I hadn't seen Sam in awhile, and-"<p>

"You don't have to explain yourself," Elijah said. "Lucy and I had a wonderful day."

Selina looked at Lucy who was about to fall asleep on Elijah's shoulder. "I think she needs to go to bed," she said. "Maybe the two of you had _too much_ fun today." She took Lucy out of Elijah's arms and went to put her in her pajamas and tuck her in. Afterward, she started when she found Elijah standing outside Lucy's door. "May I help you?" She asked.

He pulled her to him and kissed her hard. She threw her arms around his neck and he picked her up and carried her to his bed.

"What are we doing?" Selina asked when they finally came up for air. "I thought this was against the rules."

"Kissing isn't," Elijah said matter of factly, running his hands over her shirt. "As long as we keep our clothes on, we're fine."

"Oh," Selina nodded. "Well, as long as that's clear." She kissed him again, but after a little while, she stopped. "This is what it was like in that dream I had," she said. "It felt exactly like this! That really happened, didn't it? I wasn't sleepingwalking at all!"

Elijah shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. But you _were_ very, _very_ drunk."

"So will you return the favor?" Selina asked. "I mean, it's only fair."

Elijah grinned and shook his head. "Of course not," he said. "And let this be a lesson to you about drinking too much."

Selina narrowed her eyes at him. "You suck," she said. "If we weren't sleeping in separate beds already, we would be now!"

"Oh, the mature approach," Elijah said as she stomped out of the room. "How delightful."

* * *

><p>After this, Selina pondered not talking to Elijah at all, but then she realized that if she didn't, she'd have one less person to complain to about her mother's outrageous wedding antics. At one point, it got so bad that her father actually stepped in and told her mother that she <em>had<em> to let Selina only invite five people and have the wedding at her own house instead of some fancy schmancy ballroom.

"It'll be in the yard," he said to Amelia. "They have a big yard. What's so bad about that?"

"Lots of stuff," Amelia said.

"It's just one thing," Matthew said. "You don't like it because it was her idea not yours. You should feel lucky she let you help plan this thing at all!"

Amelia eyed him sulkily and stomped off.

"Thanks, Daddy," Selina said.

"I got your back, don't worry," Matthew said, giving Selina a hug. Just then, Lucy came ambling over. She was fiddling with the color of her lavender dress and looking like she was about to cry.

"I don't think she likes the dress," Matthew said.

Selina picked her up. "She's been like this ever since the first time I put the dress on her. Maybe I should just find a cotton one and let her wear that. It'll be easier that way."

"Whatever you want," Matthew said. "Remember, this is your day, not your mother's."

* * *

><p>The morning of the wedding, Selina was awakened bright and early by a phone call from Anna. "So," she said. "How are you feeling?"<p>

Selina yawned. "Tired," she said. She looked at the clock on the bedside table. "It's five-thirty in the morning, Anna! Why are you calling so early?"

"I can't help it," Anna said. "I feel like it's Christmas!"

"Now, your mother knows nothing about what's gonna happen today, right?"

Anna nodded. "You told me not to tell her and I didn't. And Stefan didn't tell Nick or Roxie anything either."

Selina let out her breath. "Good. This day might go smoothly after all." She hung up and fell asleep for another three hours before she was awoken again by nearly falling off her mattress because Lucy was jumping on it. She stabilized herself and then took hold of her daughter. "What are you doing?" She asked. "No jumping on the bed! You could get hurt!"

"Uncle 'Lijah says come," Lucy said.

Selina put Lucy down and put on a bathrobe and went out into the living room. When Elijah saw her, he stood up, smiled and gave her a hug. "How are we doing?"

"I'm okay," she said.

"Good," he replied. "You sit and I'll bring you your breakfast."

"You made me breakfast?" Selina asked. "You didn't have to, but thank you." He came out with a plate of eggs and bacon and after he set it down in front of her, he pulled out a notepad from his suit pocket and looked at it. "Selina, breakfast: check."

Selina looked at the notepad. "What's that?"

"It's our wedding schedule," Elijah said. "Now everything is going to work like clockwork. I got the house all cleaned up, Lucy's eaten, Anna's going to be here in a little bit to help the two of you with getting dressed, the yard is being set up, oh, I love it when things go according to plan!"

"I can't believe we have a wedding schedule," Selina said, rolling her eyes and standing up. "But I can't say I'm surprised, either. I'm going to change. Remember, you're not supposed to see me before the wedding."

"I know," Elijah said. "I'll stay away."

"Yeah, well, just see that you do!" Selina said.

Lucy was still waiting in Selina's bedroom and watched her mother intently as she removed her wedding dress and Lucy's own dress from the closet.

"Okay," Selina said to her. "Come here, you."

Lucy ran to her and eagerly helped her put the dress on. She liked this one much better. Selina buckled Lucy's shoes and curled her hair and just as they finished, they heard a knock on the bedroom door, and then it swung open to admit Anna. "Your parents and Caroline are here," she said to Selina. "Elijah and your mom are having a real nice chat."

"Well, that's good," Selina said. "If Mama's talking to Elijah, she won't be in here bothering me."

"Let me see your dress," Anna said. Selina slipped it out of the garment bag and let Anna "oooh" and "aaaah" for a few minutes before they put it on. "There's no veil," Anna remarked. "Were you just gonna put your hair up?"

Selina nodded. "Yeah. Would you braid it?"

Anna braided Selina's hair and put a little makeup on her, and then when they'd finished, they hurried out to look at the clock. "Just in time," Anna said. "Am I good, or what?"

Just then, Caroline peeked her head in. "Is there anything I can do here? Wow, Selina. You look good!"

Selina grinned. "Thank you. Would you take Lucy? I think she's getting a little bored and I don't want her to mess up her hair or get her dress wrinkly."

Caroline nodded and led Lucy out of the room.

"You ready for this?" Anna asked her.

Selina nodded. "I think so." They went outside into the sunshine and stood on the small lower deck that led straight down the aisle. The wedding march was playing, and as everyone turned to look at Selina, she stepped gracefully off the porch and proceeded to walk down the aisle, but when she was nearly at the end of the aisle, her heel got caught on her skirt and she stumbled. She was close enough to Elijah that he caught her, however and she was able to right herself without trouble.

Then the officiator looked over the crowd. "Elijah and Selina have decided to recite their own vows today, and Elijah requested, contrary to the usual that Selina go first."

"What?" Selina whispered. "Why?"

"Because I saw what you wrote ahead of time and that inspired me to write mine," Elijah said. "So go ahead."

"All right," Selina cleared her throat and locked eyes with him. "The third time we met, I was in trouble. I'd just gotten badly hurt and you came by and asked me if I needed help. I told you I was fine, I told you I could handle it. But you didn't believe me. You picked me up, you took me home, and you cared about me, more than anyone had ever done in my life. That's when I fell in love with you." Her voice broke. "But I didn't want to tell you because I wasn't sure you'd feel the same way about me. But I know now, and so I'll say it right here in front of all these people: I love you, Elijah, and I'll never leave you."

Everyone was silent for a moment. Even Elijah seemed to have tears in his eyes. When he'd composed himself, he took her hand. "I know how you think I see you," he said. "As a fragile woman who always needs my help. And while I don't think that all the time, there have been instances where that's what you've been: A woman who was deeply hurt and needed someone to lean on. And I want to thank you for letting me be the one to help you. And while I know that no man will ever own you, because I love you, I humbly asked to be allowed to be your protector as we continue on our life together."

Selina sniffled and nodded. "Okay!"

"Wait!" The officiator said. "We haven't gotten to that part yet. We'll do it now: Do you, Elijah Mikaelson take Selina Amelia Elizabeth Warren to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Elijah nodded. "I do."

"And do you, Selina Amelia Elizabeth Warren, take Elijah Mikaelson to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do!" Selina said immediately.

"Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the-"

But he didn't get to finish. Selina jumped into Elijah's arms and he kissed her deeply and it seemed like no one else was there but the two of them.


	22. French Kiss

After the wedding ended, everyone headed back to the house to change for the reception.

"So where are you going on your honeymoon?" Anna asked Selina. "You never told me."

"Paris," Selina said. "Just like the good old days, only this time he won't stick me on a boat and send me away."

"Speaking of 'the good old days,' Anna said, "You should take some of the time you're there to ease Elijah into finding out about your past, you know? Because I assume you haven't told him all of it yet?"

"Of course not," Selina shook her head. "He still thinks that Lonely Heart was someone else that made me her unwilling goon."

Anna burst out laughing. "That is _hysterical_! But you know you have to tell him everything some time."

"I will," Selina said. "Just not now."

"That's why I think you should ease him into it," Anna said. "So he's not blindsided by everything at once."

"I'm _not_ going to spend my honeymoon telling Elijah how evil I was," Selina said. "That's just not gonna happen!"

"Who's gonna watch Lucy?" Anna asked. "Do you want Stefan and me to?"

Selina nodded. "If you would, thanks."

"Do you want me to keep a lookout for Nicky and if he comes to visit, send him away?" Anna said.

Selina shook her head. "I know he's going to come by your house while I'm gone, and as long as somebody's there when he's visiting Lucy, it's okay. You don't have to send him away."

"All right," Anna nodded. "He and Stefan went out and did something today. It was Stefan's idea."

"Helping Roxie with her campaign?" Selina asked. "That seems to be their cause for the moment." She went into her closet and slipped on a dress that would allow her to move and could get messy without it being such a tragedy.

"It's cause of Sam and Lucy," Selina said when Anna gave her a questioning look. "You never know what two year olds will get into."

* * *

><p>When they got back to the yard for the reception later that day, everyone seemed to be in the mood to party. Nothing went wrong until they brought the cake out. Selina and Elijah obliged everyone and fed each other pieces as was expected, but afterward, things went downhill, at least in Amelia's eyes. It all began when they heard a shriek as people ate their cake. Selina turned just in time to see Sam shove a piece of cake right against Lucy's face and put a fistful of caky frosting in her curly blonde hair. In turn, Lucy climbed onto a chair, grabbed another unattended piece of cake and threw it at Sam.<p>

"Aren't you going to go over there and stop them?" Elijah asked. "Lucy could hurt Sam badly. You do remember that, don't you?"

"It's just cake," Selina said. "If they start throwing punches, sure I'll intervene, but for now it seems like they're having more fun than we are." She looked him over. "I wish you would have changed you clothes," she said. "Don't you own _anything_ that doesn't need to be dry-cleaned?"

Elijah shook his head. "As a matter of fact, I don't, so if you were thinking of doing to me what Sam and Lucy are doing, I would advise against it."

Selina rolled her eyes. "Come on," she said. "Get into the spirit of things, would you? No one's eating any more cake anyway, and we don't want to let it go to waste."

"How is throwing it any better?" Elijah asked.

Selina shrugged. "I don't know. It just is." She picked up a plate and aimed the piece of cake at her mother, who turned just in time to be hit square in the face with it. Not being able to see who'd done the throwing, she aimed blindly and hit Selina's father, who in turn hit her back and pretty soon, everyone was throwing cake and other food at each other.

"Well, this is nice," Elijah said. "Just the dignity we wanted."

"Oh, come on," Selina said. "Lighten up, would you?" She threw a pice of cake at him and it hit him square in the face. He wiped whipped cream frosting out of his eyes and glared at her. "What did you do that for?" He asked.

"I don't know," she said, taking his hand and getting some whipped cream onto his finger and sucking it off. He tensed. "Are you all right?" She asked, grinning.

Elijah cleared his throat and went to pull Lucy off of Sam. "I think it's about time we ended this," he said. Lucy let of a shriek of anger, but Elijah's firm hold on her calmed her down. "Get Sam," he said to Selina, who picked up her son and carried him into the house after Elijah.

"I think we should give them both baths before we send them on their way," Elijah said, looking at Selina over Lucy's head. "Don't you think so?"

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "Otherwise the bees might get way too interested, and we don't want that." She looked Elijah over. "And you might want to give yourself a rinse too. Do you want to do it alone, or do you need my help?"

"You've helped me quite enough, thank you," he said. "I can manage on my own."

"Oh, come on!" Selina called as he carried Lucy off to the bathroom. "I was only fooling. Can't you take a joke?"

They didn't have any trouble getting either of the kids clean, and when Elijah came out with Lucy, Selina held one of her children's hands in each of hers and marched them out to the car. Elijah stayed home. "You're going to stay at Aunt Anna's while we're on vacation," she said to Sam and Lucy. "Try to be good and not kill each other, all right?"

Lucy looked a little sad. "Okay." Sam just nodded. When they arrived at Anna and Stefan's, Anna opened the door immediately. "Two for the price of one," she said, looking down at them.

"Look," Selina said, "I could always drop Lucy off at your mother's if you think it'll be too much for you."

"Oh, no," Anna said as she gestured for the three of them to come in. "We've handled the two of them together before. It's a healthy challenge."

Selina grinned. "Well, if you're sure."

Anna nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. Now will you just _go_? I know there are things you'd rather be doing than standing here talking to _me_."

"Well, I didn't want to be rude," Selina said. "But since you brought it up..."

"_Go_," Anna repeated. "Or I will throw you out myself."

"All right, all right," Selina put up her hands and backed out the door and down the front steps, and then ran to her car when Anna wasn't looking out the window anymore. Then she put her foot on the gas pedal and raced home.

* * *

><p>When Selina got inside, she didn't see anyone right away. "Elijah?" She called. "Are you here? Did you go out? I know I got back fast, but I obeyed all the traffic signs, I promise." She hadn't obeyed <em>any<em> of the traffic signs actually, and had in fact had to compel a cop that had pulled her over to go along his merry way and not give her a ticket. It had been her only option; he _never _would have understood that she was driving so fast because she really wanted to go home and have sex. So she'd done what she'd had to do.

She cleared her throat and called out again. "Elijah? Where _are_ you?"

Just then, he came striding out of the side hallway, grabbed her by the arms and backed her up against the wall. He wasn't wearing a shirt. "What_ took _you so long?" He asked. He was breathing hard and his eyes looked crazy, but at least all the cake frosting was cleaned off him.

"But it didn't take me long," Selina protested. "I was going so fast I had to compel my way out of a ticket and everything!"

He put a hand over her mouth. "Stop talking!" He barked. "I don't want to hear another word out of you."

She frowned and tried to speak around his hand, but nothing came out. Then, he took his hand off her mouth and kissed her deeply. When he pulled away, she felt as if all the breath had been sucked from her body. She gazed at him, swallowed. then hesitantly reached out to stroke his abs with shaking fingers.

He moaned leaned forward to kiss her again, reaching one hand up to run his fingers through her hair. The other he snuck under her blouse and around to her back where he undid the clasp of her bra and then slipped it off and threw it on the floor, then slowly stroked her breasts with the tips of his fingers after pulling off her shirt. He lowered her to the floor and began rapidly kissing her neck. She moaned and then he moved his hand up her thigh and under her skirt to rub her panties. She moaned loudly and wiggled her hips to get her skirt off and then let out a squeal as his lips touched the hot skin of her inner thighs.

"You're doing this on purpose," she breathed. "What would your good twin say?"

He grinned wickedly at her and slipped off her panties. As his tongue entered her, she bucked forward again and again and again. Just when she thought she'd get a break, he got up on his knees and unzipped his pants, his manhood jutting proudly from behing his zipper. The sight of it made Selina's eyes widen and she let out a pleased moan. He let her stroke him for a moment or so before he impaled her to the hilt, making the whole room (even if it was actually just a few of the windows) shatter around her.

Eventually, they had to stop and take a break. They were both covered in sweat and breathing hard. "You're really mean, you know that?" She said when she turned to face him.

"What makes you say that?" He said, moving a damp strand of her dark hair off her right eye. "I would say I'm pretty nice, considering what I just did for you."

Selina scoffed. "Oh, please. Don't act like you didn't need that as much as I did. I don't believe that for a second. You may be a highly evolved man, but you're still a man."

He nodded. "And you may be a highly evolved woman, but you're still a woman. And if I've learned one thing over the years its that deep down, all women are the same. They all want the same things: love and marriage. And you've got them, so why is it that you still act like you did years ago, being proud and stingy? If a man makes love to you and you like it, it's all right to say so."

Selina shook her head. "What would it matter?" She asked. "You're so busy praising yourself I doubt you'd even notice."

He put his fist to his chest. "You just put a knife in my heart," he said. "It hurt me so much," he said sarcastically.

Selina narrowed her eyes. "Oh, shut up!" She got up to go reach for her skirt, but he pulled her back down again. "What's the rush?" he asked, nibbling on her ear.

"Well, don't we have somewhere we need to be?" Selina asked. "Or were we planning on spending our entire honeymoon having sex on the floor of our living room?"

Elijah heaved an exaggerated sigh. "I suppose you do have a point," he said. He looked her over. "Although I will say you look much better this way." He came to stand behind her, running his fingers down her bare back.

Selina grinned. "I tell _you_ that all the time, but you don't listen. It's all 'clothes this' and 'clothes that.' Humor me a bit when we get to Paris, will you?"

"Maybe," he whispered in her ear. "If you behave yourself."

She grinned. "You never want me to behave myself. Admit it," she said cheekily. She picked her clothes up off the floor and began putting them on while Elijah did the same.

Elijah said, "So are Sam and Lucy safely away?"

Selina nodded. "Now do we go and get the plane and go to Paris?"

"Almost," Elijah said. "Alistair called while you were gone. He wants us to come by so he can give us our wedding present."

"Oh, how thoughtful," Selina said. "I wonder what he got us. I hope it wasn't a toaster oven. We have like, three of those, although I have no idea why."

"I believe it's more imaginitive than a toaster oven," Elijah said. Just then, the phone rang. Selina went to answer it and the conversation ended after less than a minute. "That was Alistair," she told Elijah. "He says that our present is on the boat, when we arrive there."

_"Are_ we taking a boat? I thought we'd be taking the plane," Selina said.

Elijah shrugged. "Well, I suppose we _could_ take a plane, but I thought a boat would be more pleasant. It's up to you, though."

Selina shook her head. "I don't mind. If Alistair says our present is on the boat, then we should take the boat."

"And do you want to leave now?" Elijah asked her. "I don't see anything preventing us since Sam and Lucy have been sent off to Anna and Stefan's."

"Well, all right," Selina said. "Let's go!"

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the boat, everything was silent. "Yours is nicer than Nicky's," Selina observed as Elijah helped her down into it. "Very elegant yet homey."<p>

He grinned. "That's what I was going for," he said. But as they entered onto the boat, something happened. The room began to shift and twist. There was a jolt. Selina fell and hit her head on the wooden edge of a small table next to the sofa. She sat up woozily and reached for Elijah. "Something's happened," she said. "Something very strange. I don't know what..." She lay back down and closed her eyes again.

"What seemed like several hours later, she heard a voice and felt air on her face. "Are you all right?" Elijah's voice asked. "You fell." He picked her up and put her on the sofa.

"Did you see the weird thing that happened here?" She asked. "Everything was all shifty and twisty and-" She looked around the room, now covered in art deco furnishings when it hadn't been before. "Where are we?" She asked.

Elijah handed her the note he'd found on the breakfast table. "It's from Alistair," he said. "Would you like me to read it to you?"

Selina put her hand on her head as Elijah brought her some ice. "Sure," she said. "Why not?"

Elijah took the note back from her and cleared his throat. "_Elijah, you told me that you were taking Selina to Paris for your honeymoon and that gave me the idea for your gift. I have always believed that the two of you were separated too soon, although I wouldn't go so far as to say the wrong decision was made by either you or Selina. It was an unfortunate situation for everyone. However, I have decided to temporarily give you a chance to see what life would have been like if you would have been able to stay together. When you arrive in Paris, you will see the the city as it was when you left it behind so many years ago, rather than it is today. It's only temporary, however. When your honeymoon ends, so will your time in the twenties. Do with it what you will. I hope you enjoy it, and be sure to say 'hello' when you see me._

_I wish you all the happiness in the world and hope you'll be able to meet with Astrid and me for dinner sometime when you return._

_Alistair."_

"Well, that's sweet," Selina said. "I really didn't expect him to get us anything, considering how weirded out he was when he found out we were together." She took the note from him and read it over. "This is so cool! We're in the twenties now! He's giving us a chance to fix what we screwed up before!"

Elijah sat down next to her and took Alistair's note. "I really don't think that's what he means," he said. "I don't think we'll be changing history. We just...get a repeat of what we were like back then."

They heard a horn honk and Elijah said he was going to go see the captain to ask where they were headed.

"We know where we're headed," Selina said. "Paris. Alistair's spell wouldn't make us go to a completely different place."

"Well, maybe you can help guide me through this," Elijah said to her. He looked overwhelmed. "You seem to understand what Alistair's done better than I do."

Selina shrugged and shook her head. "No, I'm as clueless as you are, but unlike you, I can go with the flow. Surprises like this don't throw me out of whack. This is just an adventure for me. If you'll just lighten up, I swear things will be easier for you."

Just then, there was a knock on the stateroom door. Selina called for the person on the other side to come in, and it appeared to be a steward with a bottle of wine and two glasses. "Will you be wanting this now?" He asked them. "Or should I wait until later?"

"Oh, we'll take it now," Selina said. "Thank you."

He nodded and put it and the two glasses down on the table, pouring some white wine in each glass before nodding briefly to them and exiting the room without a word.

Selina handed Elijah his glass and then took hers. Elijah eyed the wine nervously. "I don't see what your problem is," she said. "You've dealt with witches before. You've seen magic performed. Alistair knows what he's doing. I'm sure everything will be just perfect. We should be grateful that he didn't have Helene do it. With that slipshod finger of hers, who _knows_ where we might have ended up?" She giggled and took a sip. "Oh, this is _good_," she said. "Elijah go on and try it. I think you'll like it."

Gingerly, Elijah brought the glass his lips and took a small sip. "You're right," he said. "It _is_ quite good." He watched her drink hers, grinning the whole time. He then took up the bottle and asked her to push her glass back toward him. "Would you like some more?" He asked.

She nodded. "Sure," she said. "I wouldn't mind another glass. How sweet of you to ask. Or is it?" She grinned.

"Well, I assure you that my intentions are entirely honorable," he said.

She grinned. "Well, that's a shame, really. I would be perfectly all right with it if they weren't." She downed her second glass rather quickly. When she reached for a third, Elijah held the bottle out of her reach.

"No, no," he said. "Remember what happened with our engagement champagne. Do you really want what happened then to happen again?"

She grinned and shook her head, taking off her skirt and her top and ambling towards him, pushing him back on the bed. "No, I _don't_ want what happened with the engagement champagne to happen again," she said. She straddled him and brought her lips down to his. "If I'm gonna make you happy," she said, "I wanna remember it. Just like you will for the rest of your life!" With surprising dexterity, she undid all the buttons on his shirt and ran her hands up and down his stomach. Then, her hips grinded against him and he let out a moan that made her grin widely before she slowly unzipped him, pulling off his trousers and throwing them in a crumpled heap at the foot of the bed. Then she leaned down and began slowly licking up and down him. He just leaned back, shut his eyes and let himself enjoy it. After awhile, though, he was so full of need that he moaned and leaned forward to kiss her again, reaching one hand up to run his fingers through her hair. The other he snuck around to her back where he undid the clasp of her bra and then slipped it off and threw it on the floor slowly stroking her breasts with the tips of his fingers.

She grinned. "Seems like you want a turn, huh, Tiger?"

He nodded and she moved off him so he could put her underneath him. He kissed under her jaw and down her neck before giving each of her nipples a squeeze. The pain was shocking, but wonderful, and when he swished his tongue around her belly button, Selina felt warmth invade her entire body. He ran his hands and tongue over her thighs and when he brought his tongue inside her, she squirmed violently. She wanted to scream. Her body was filled with need for him. "Come inside me!" She whispered desperately. "You're killing me!"

But he just smirked. Even as he licked her, he kept his eyes on her face. That smug sparkle in his eye and that know-it-all grin he wore were repulsive to her, and made her want to kill him, but at the same time, they were both so arousing that-

She didn't have time for another thought as he pushed into her and they became one. She let out a shriek of ecstasy and gripped him tightly. His hands were all over her body and it seemed like she didn't have a bone left in her. She was languid and warm and weak. All she could do was gasp for air as the world came back into focus again.

* * *

><p>He was smirking again as he loomed over her. "Are you all right?" He asked her.<p>

All she could do was nod. He detached himself and suggested she turn over so he could rub her back. "Maybe you should rest now," he said. "We still have lots of time in Paris. You don't want to wear yourself out too early."

She grinned and sat up. "Well, you know that island you and Nicky and I got Roxie and Vince from? My sexual stamina is legendary there! Or have you forgotten that?"

Elijah leaned forward and whispered with his lips right against her ear. "I might have forgotten," he said. "But I can't _wait_ to be reminded."

* * *

><p>When they finally arrived in Paris, it was early morning. The sky was still dark and a crescent moon lit their way as they parked the car in the garage and went inside.<p>

"It's a warm night," Selina said. "Do we really want to waste it in here?"

"What else would we do?" Elijah asked. "Aren't you tired by now? It's almost three in the morning."

Selina shook her head and went to open the floor-length, gold brocade curtains. "Of course not," she said. "I'm still very much awake." She turned abruptly to face him. "What would you say to a swim? I see a pool out there."

"Well, there's no one around to bring the suitcases in," Elijah said. "Everyone is asleep and we should be too!"

"We don't need the suitcases," Selina said. "It's just water. Only prudes wear bathing suits in the water."

She stripped off her clothes one last time and pulled the glass sliding door to the deck open. "Come on," she said, grinning. "I'll race you!"

"Wait a minute!" He called after her. She turned around to face him. "What?" She asked. "Don't try and tell me that we have to go to sleep instead. It's not going to happen!"

Elijah shook his head. "No, it's not that." He strode up to her and boldly looked her over. "I just need one last burst of energy to follow you into the pool," he said, stripping off his clothes and following her in. She ran eagerly and then paused at the edge, a fine tremor suddenly going through her body.

"I was wondering when you were going remember that you were afraid of water," Elijah said. "Or is your fear selective? Like sometimes you are and sometimes you aren't?"

She cleared her throat, but didn't look at him, her eyes still locked on the clear blue water in the pool. "Well, it depends," she said quietly. "When I suggested we go for a swim, I really meant sexy time in the water, which isn't really the same thing as swimming. If you're holding on to me, there's a much slighter chance that I'll drown."

Elijah decided to humor her and got into the pool first, helping her ease slowly into the water, then holding on to her as they let the cool water cradle their naked bodies. She lay her head on his shoulder, her eyes turned up toward the stars.

"So this was your house back then?" Selina asked. "I'm starting to remember. I'd forgotten. But I _never_ knew you had a pool! Are there other things around here that I don't know about?"

"Well, I didn't tell you about the pool or the bar or anything else that you'd consider fun because you were a very impressionable young lady back then, and any hint that I was fun would have taken you off the straight and narrow path I worked so hard to put you on."

"I hate to break it to you," Selina said. "But it wasn't you that inspired me to be good. It was the threat of your father. It was your encouragement that helped me stick to the goal, though. If I didn't have your example to follow, I'd have probably been a goner a long time ago."

Elijah nodded. "I don't doubt that," he said. "Even right from the beginning, you've always thought you could handle everything, even when it was obvious you couldn't..."

_It had been a day just like any other day, and now it was ending. People were getting done with work and heading home to their families for a nice quiet dinner and a relaxing evening. The air was calm and quiet. Elijah walked down the street, stopping for a moment to admire a juggler that was amusing a crowd of onlookers before walking on. It was impossible to find a taxi at this time of day, so he usually avoided going into the city around closing time, but today, it had been unavoidable: Anna had dragged him to some new film, _The Jazz Singer_, that was supposedly remarkable because it had _sound_ and people _talking_! She'd been impressed, but he hadn't. It had been a complete waste of his time. _

_Just then, there was the sound of a crash followed by a high-pitched squeal. It sounded like there had been an accident. The noise was coming from nearby. The shrieking continued, which made it easy for Elijah to locate the person doing the shrieking. He found her in the middle of a street, struggling with a man who was attempting to take her purse. Her too-short skirt also had a rip in it and blood seeped from a wound in her thigh. Otherwise, she seemed unscathed. He watched in amusement as Sera wrestled the unfortunate purse snatcher and, Elijah presumed, attempted rapist, to the ground and began pummeling him. After a bit, however, he cleared his throat._

_"What?" She asked him, looking up. "If you're here for the reason I think you are, you can keep moving. I've got this under control."_

_"Are you sure?" he asked. "That cut looks painful. Don't get me wrong, but I heard your shrieking from two streets over and it sounded like you were in some sort of distress."_

_Sera grunted as she knocked the scrawny, watery-eyed man under his jaw. "I'm a woman who's in distress, but I can handle this. Have a nice day." She turned away dismissively, but he didn't leave as she expected him to._

_"That cut looks very painful," he said. "And your dress, it's ruined. If you come home with me, I can help you. Maybe let you rest a bit. And I can run over to Niklaus' to get you another dress to change into."_

_"Well, isn't that a sweet offer?" Sera asked, smirking. Then she sobered. "What's in it for you? You wanna cuddle a little before you give me my new dress?"_

_"No!" Elijah said, looking horrified. "I just want to make sure you're all right. You've just been through something very unpleasant and you should have someone make sure you're safe. Please just come with me. After you've changed, I'll send you back to Niklaus' or whatever you want. But I can't in good conscience leave you out here like this. I can't and I won't." He held out his hand. "So will you come?"_

_She took his hand and looked up at him with something like wonder. "What _are_ you_?" _She asked him. "You're not a man, that's for sure. You're too nice. In my experience, men understand 'no' as meaning 'yes' and 'get lost' as meaning 'take me, I'm yours'. None of the men I've met have ever actually...cared about me."_

_"Not even Niklaus?" Elijah asked. "I'll talk to him about that."_

_Sera shook her head. "Oh, no. You don't have to do that. I'm okay with how things are between Nicky and me. It's good enough, I guess for a woman who made the mistake of falling in love with the wrong type of man to begin with. It seems to be all I'm good for."_

_To his surprise, a few tears squeezed out of her eyes. "Are you all right?" he asked. "Why are you crying?" He paused. "Well, that's a ridiculous question, isn't it? You want something that you're clearly not getting."_

_She nodded. "Well, it's not like I deserve what I want, anyway. I've done too many bad things to deserve love."_

_"Oh, I'm sure you're exaggerating," Elijah said. "You may be rough around the edges, but that doesn't mean that you aren't worthy of love. Now let's not talk any more about this and go home to get you cleaned up."_

"What?" Selina asked when she noticed that Elijah was looking down at her.

"Nothing," he said. "I was just thinking about back then. Or now. However you want to look at it. You know, I've always wondered what you meant when you told me you'd done too many bad things to deserve love."

"Oh," Selina giggled nervously. "I was talking about the Lonely Heart thing," she said. "You know, how she took me and forced me to be her unwilling apprentice?"

"So she _did_!" Elijah said. "Why didn't you just tell me that from the beginning?"

She shrugged. "I don't know! I just had no idea how you'd react!"

"Well if it wasn't your fault, if you were forced into working for Lonely Heart, you have nothing to worry about. It was smart of you to want to leave town to get away from her then," Elijah said. "Those last two murders she forced you to commit were particularly brutal. No wonder my father caught on to you."

Selina suddenly froze, then got out of the circle of Elijah's arms, swimming to the water's edge and boosting herself out of the pool and putting on her clothes. "I'm tired," she said. "I think I want to go to sleep."

Elijah got out of the pool and followed her, but she didn't acknowledge him until they were both in the bedroom. "What's the matter?" Elijah asked. "Was it something I said?"

Selina sighed and shook her head, stripping off her clothes, putting on a rose-colored night-gown and getting into bed. "I have to tell you something about the murders that put your father on my trail: Lonely Heart didn't have me commit those. They were done by someone else. I tried to explain once, but no one believed me." She lay down on her pillow. "Can we not talk about this anymore?" She asked. "It's not something I like to think about."

He nodded. "Of course," he said, turning off the light and getting into bed beside her. "Good night," he whispered. "Sleep well."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Selina grudgingly shuffled to the kitchen after Elijah opened the blinds and practically pulled her out of bed.<p>

"So what would you like to do today?" He asked her. "Any ideas?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Well," she said, "I wouldn't mind getting some more sleep."

Elijah looked at the clock on the wall. "It's noon," he said. "Pick something else. Anything at all. Anything in this _whole_ city."

Selina thought a moment. "I really don't know," she said. "What did _ you_ have in mind?"

"Well," Elijah said, "I was thinking that maybe we could go shopping."

"Shopping?" Selina repeated. That wasn't what she'd expected at all. "Why? Do you need a new suit or something?"

"You'll see," he said, a smile curving his lips. He called out a name and a man in a black driver's uniform and hat came into the room. "I will go prepare the car," he said. "Where will we be going?"

"To the shopping district," Elijah said. The driver nodded and scampered off, and then, after she'd dressed, Elijah told Selina to shut her eyes and led her out to the car, helping her in the backseat. After a bit of driving, and Elijah constantly telling Selina that she had to keep her eyes _closed_, they arrived at their destination and he helped Selina out of the car, telling the driver to wait. They stopped in front of the first store and Selina opened her eyes. "Chanel?" She gave him a strange look. "But this is a _women's_ store! Are you trying to tell me something?"

He nodded. "Yes. See anything you want and I'll get it for you."

Selina's eyes widened. "Oh, my god. You aren't serious, are you?" She felt faint but managed to keep herself upright.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, I am. Just a little surprised, that's all. Look, it's a really nice offer, but you don't have to."

"I know," he said. "I _want_ to."

She blinked and took a deep breath, sitting down on a chair at the cafe next door. "I need to think about this," she said. "I know you mean well, but I just..."

He sat down across from her. "It's all right," he said. "If you don't want to, we won't. It was just an idea. I thought it would be a nice surprise for you."

She looked up at him. "Just a minute," she said. "Shush. I _might_ be able to work through this."

"Do you need to go back to the car?" Elijah asked.

"No," Selina shook her head and stood up. "Let's keep walking so I can at least see what's in the windows for when I finally come around."

Elijah looked at her oddly but took her hand and led her down the street. She looked in the windows, but didn't say anything, instead muttering words he couldn't quite understand under her breath.

Selina for her part, knew Elijah was there, but had other things on her mind, other people she needed to deal with. Well, they weren't people necessarily, but they were problems whatever they were. On either side of her stood a girl and a woman. Both were herself. The girl wore a lavender hoopskirted gown and had her hair up in ringlets, while the woman's hair was blonde and cut short and she wore a black, fringed dress that ended just below her knees.

"Why are you here?" Selina asked them under her breath. "Go away!"

"It's not that simple," the hoopskirted her said.

"True," the other nodded. "We're here because we're worried about you."

"There's nothing to worry about!" Selina whispered through her teeth. "_Go away._"

"Are you _sure_?" The flapper asked. "He told you he wanted to buy you things. How can that not worry you? How many times have men told you that you're the best and they want to buy you pretty things, and then next thing you know, you're in their bed when the wife they conveniently forgot to tell you about comes home unexpectedly and finds you naked with her husband under the covers?"

"Elijah wouldn't do that!" Selina said. "Besides, we're married already. This is our honeymoon!"

She looked angrily at the hoopskirted girl. "And just what's _your_ problem?" She asked what seemed to be the fourteen-year-old version of herself. "Are you upset that Elijah wants to buy me things too?"

"Well, that depends," she said. "Is his mother dead?"

Selina shook her head. "No, she's still alive."

"Is she scary?" The teenager pressed.

"Oh, yes," Selina nodded. "Beyond all reason, sometimes."

"Well, there you go," the girl said. "He might like you now that you're here, but how do you know that he's not just offering to buy you all this stuff as a way to pacify you so that you don't complain when he leaves you with his scary mother while he goes off on adventures and sees other women behind your back?"

"That wouldn't happen," Selina said, locking eyes with the teenager. "Elijah's no James McIntyre, or whatever that son of a bitch's name was that wanted to take you out from under Damon's nose. He's a good man and I love him. He's not up to anything. He just wants me to be happy. So the two of you can take your cynicism and and your doubt and stick it where the sun don't shine, because I'm tired of hearing it!"

They disappeared and Selina felt a touch on her shoulder. "Are you all right?" Elijah asked her. "You've been muttering under your breath and looking angry and I was beginning to get worried."

Selina shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Well, now I am. I just had to give myself a little pep talk, that's all."

Elijah nodded, hugging her to him. "Well, as long as you're all right," he said. It was then her eye caught sight of a dress in a store window. It was light blue and the bodice was covered with silver webbing. "Could I have that?" She asked him.

He nodded. "Of course." They went into store and he waited while she tried on the dress (which just happened to fit her perfectly).

"Would you like to wear it out?" The saleslady asked her.

"Sure," Selina said. "I can do that?"

The woman nodded. "of course." She rang up the price on a cash register, Elijah paid and Selina skipped out of the store with him following behind her. Then she turned to face him. "I'm going to need shoes, you know. And maybe a necklace. But I'm not going to ask for _too_ much, because-"

Elijah nodded, stopping her midsentence. " It's all right," he said. "We'll keep looking. You'll get everything you want."

* * *

><p>But true to her word, Selina hadn't asked for much. Just the dress and then a diamond necklace and matching purse to go with it.<p>

"Let's see the Louvre tomorrow," Selina said that night. "I'm in the mood to look at some art."

Elijah nodded. "All right. And before we leave we have to remember to go up to the top of the Eiffel tower too."

"Oh, do we have to?" Selina asked. "You _do_ know how high that is, right?"

He nodded. "I do. But I'll be holding on to you the whole time and I promise I won't let you go. If we don't go, you'll just be depriving yourself of one of the most beautiful views in the world."

She grinned and got into bed. "I keep waiting for Nicky to come barging in here and yell at us," she said. "But then I remember that he's gone, so he won't. Alistair picked a good time period, didn't he? We're in a place where nothing could go wrong."

Just then, the door burst open and Mikael strode in. He looked at Selina and he looked at Elijah, then a grin broke out over his face. "Well this is a nice development," he said to Elijah. "I've been chasing after this woman for years and finally, you put her in a position where she can't get away. Good job, son."

"Actually, Father," Elijah said, "That's not why we're here."

"Well, why else would you be?" Mikael asked. "I can't think of any others."

"Actually, it's because we're-" Elijah began, but Selina cut him off.

"We're here because I have something I want to say," Selina said. "You have it all wrong. I know what murders you're attemping avenge and Lonely Heart didn't even commit those. It was someone else. Someone who wanted to hide behind Lonely Heart's notoriety to conceal their own crimes. You should be looking for the real killer, not nosing around here chasing after someone who hasn't done anything."

Mikael scoffed. "You think you haven't done anything? Is that what you think? I beg to differ. Dozens of couples over the past ten years have been found dead with your signature on them. I can't just discount that." He grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her along with him. "You're coming with me," he said.

"No!" Selina strugged. "No, let me go!"

Elijah grabbed hold of her other arm and soon she was caught in a tug-of war between Elijah and his father.

"Let her go," Elijah said. "At least until you can prove your claims beyond a shadow of a doubt, which if you knew her at all, you'd realize you wouldn't be able to. She's a good woman."

Mikael let her go and pushed her into Elijah's arms. "All right," he said. "I'll give you a week. And if in week I'm not convinced of her innocence, I'm taking her with me. Is that understood, Elijah?"

Elijah looked down at Selina. "Yes, Father," he said quietly.

"All right," Mikael said, and left.

Selina sighed and sat down at the table again. "Well this totally isn't how I thought our honeymoon would go. He's not gonna move in here with us, do you think?"

"Don't worry about it," Elijah said. "Just stay on your best behavior, then he'll get bored and leave."

"I don't know," Selina said.

Elijah got up and went to grab the phone, carrying it over and dialing a number. "Hello, Alistair? We're having a bit of an emergency," he said. "Would you come to my house right away?"

When Alistair finally arrived, the first words out of his mouth were, "I was waiting for this to happen."

"You _knew_ this was gonna happen!" Selina burst out. "Why in the world did you send us here if you knew his father was gonna show up?"

"Because I _know_ you," Alistair said. "You're always going on and on about stuff that happened in the past that you wished could have been changed even if it wasn't for the best. Especially that first fiance of yours, Damon Salvatore. I don't think life would have been good for you if you'd stayed with him."

"Oh, don't I know it," Selina said. "I've already had _that_ experience, thank you."

"And when Elijah told me that he was going to send you on the boat, I knew that that was something you'd dwell on as well, the both of you. Yes, it was sad that you had to part when things were going well, but at least I know and you know that being sent away kept you alive. Would you rather be happy for a short time and dead, or miserable for a short time and then happy for a long time?"

Selina sighed. "The second one, I guess. So now that we understand what you were up to with this little gift of yours, Alistair, what are we going to do about Mikael?"

"The only thing you can do," Alistair said. "Be on your best behavior until I figure out a way to deal with him. And I'll find one. I promise."


	23. On the Homefront

Roxie strode into the penthouse and plopped down on the sofa, throwing her purse next to her and rubbing her temples. She just couldn't catch a break, could she?

"Agnes," she asked the girl who was looking out the window. "What are you looking at?"

Agnes turned. "Vince," she said. "He's out on a deck chair and he's not wearing a shirt." She grinned.

Roxie got up and strode over to the window, pushing Agnes to the floor and gazing at Vince openly. "Get me a drink!" She said when she could finally tear her eyes away from Vince's bare chest and look at Agnes who was wincing as she struggled to get off the floor. "Ice tea, two spoonfuls of sugar and squirt of raspberry syrup. I'll give you ten seconds."

Agnes' eyes widened and she ran to the kitchen. Once she was gone, Roxie grinned and headed out onto the deck, taking the empty chair next to Vince. "Enjoying yourself?" She asked.

He grinned and reached over to take her hand. "I am now," he said. "How was your day?"

Roxie scoffed. "Not well. Sucky as usual. I think Dad hates me again."

"Why?" Vince asked. "The two of you have been getting along so well lately, ever since you told him about running for student council president."

"I _know_, right?" Roxie said. "But when I came to his house so he, Uncle Stefan and I could hold this week's campaign planning meeting, there was another girl sitting at the kitchen table. In _my_ spot!"

"Well, did you tell her to move?" Vince asked. "Did you do it politely?"

Roxie nodded vigorously. "Yes," she said. "But Daddy told me that Mary Anne was a guest in his house and as such could sit wherever she darn well pleased. And that our campaign planning meeting was canceled in honor of Mary Anne's visit. I don't know what makes _her_ so damn special!"

"Did you even think of asking your father what was going on with Mary Anne?" Vince asked. "Maybe she's just a family friend and she's visiting, and she'll be gone in a couple of days. If that's the case, you really can't blame your father for wanting to spend time with her."

"But why did she have to come _now_?" Roxie complained. "This is when campaigning is the most important! We can't drop the ball now! And apparently since I'm not allowed to kill my opponents, which would just simplify everything, what am I supposed to do? I can't do all of it by myself!"

"I'll help you," Vince said. "On the condition that you put your absolute trust in me. You're not allowed to tell me that what I'm doing is wrong and you can't complain about it either."

Roxie sat up. "You've been thinking about this for awhile now, haven't you?"

Vince nodded. "As a matter of fact, I have. I even have your next move all planned out."

"And what is it?" Roxie asked. "A stakeout with cameras where we capture my opponents doing bad things and then plaster the footage all over the internet?"

Vince shook his head. "That's not what I had in mind. One of the things that Ashley Speckler has going for her is that she's very service-oriented. She reaches out to the community and volunteers. People like that. Compared to her, you look really selfish."

Roxie scoffed. "Well, that's a tad judgmental, don't you think?"

"Well, I'm just telling you what it looks like from where I sit," Vince said. "I don't believe any of it myself. You can be a very giving person when you wanna be...sometimes."

"So what do you plan to do to make me look better, maestro? Do you have a plan?" Roxie asked.

Vince nodded. "Remember that article you did for the paper after you saved the kid from his peanut allergy?"

"Yeah," Roxie nodded. "What about it?"

"Well, that was genius PR," Vince said. "I was thinking it wouldn't hurt to have you do the same sort of thing again, only this time at a nursing home. I could bring my camera and take pictures of you playing checkers with the residents, listening to stories about 'the good old days'. You know, stuff like that. People like people who are nice to the elderly."

"Oh, come on!" Roxie complained. "Is that the best you can do? Old people? If I wanted to be bored by stories about the olden days, all I'd have to do is get my mother to start talking about her childhood. Or worse: my dad."

Vince smirked. "Oh, come on. It won't be so bad."

Before Roxie could reply, Agnes came bustling out with Roxie's iced tea. "Here you go," she said. She was breathing hard and the hand that held the tea was shaking "Iced tea, two spoonfuls of sugar and a squirt of raspberry syrup."

Roxie took the glass from her. "Took you long enough," she said.

Vince leaned forward. "She means 'thank you', Agnes. Go take a break. You deserve it."

"She can do that," Roxie said. "_After_ she cleans up the mess in the kitchen. I know there is one."

Agnes shifted a little. "I spilled the first glass of tea and had to make another one. I'll go clean it up." Turning on her heel, she went back into the house and shut the screen door behind her.

"You could be a bit more gracious, you know," Vince said to Roxie. "Like maybe tell Agnes 'thank you' every once in awhile."

"Why should I do that?" Roxie asked after taking a long sip from her glass. "Getting me stuff is her job after all. Now, you were saying something about how working with old people won't be so bad?"

"Well, it won't," Vince said. "You'll probably love it. And remember, I said if you wanted me to help you, you couldn't complain?"

Roxie ran her fingers lightly over his chest. "Oh, I suppose," she said. "But just for future reference, next time you need to tell me something like this, do it when we're both naked. I'll be more receptive that way."

* * *

><p>"All right," Roxie said the next morning, looking at the Twiight Woods rest home with narrow, suspicious eyes. "Let's get this over with, all right? Charlie and I are going out dancing tonight and I don't want to walk into a club smelling like old people."<p>

Vince grabbed Roxie's arm and led her inside. "This whole place is just...hopeless, isn't it?" She asked as a group watching reruns of _Jeopardy_ caught her eye. "I bet they don't even know where they are."

"Don't stare," Vince said through his teeth. "It's not polite." He then turned away from her and back to the desk. "Jeff!" He said to a man at the front desk. "How are you?"

Jeff sighed, running his fingers over his buzz-cut dark hair. "Much better than usual, actually. Everybody's eager to meet Roxie. It's not every day they meet someone new." He looked at Roxie, who wouldn't meet his eyes, then back at Vince. "Is this her?" He asked.

Vince nodded. "It is," he said and shoved Roxie toward the desk. "I'll leave her here while I go get my camera so you can do what you will with her and we'll be out of here around four. Is that all right?"

Jeff nodded. "Oh, yes. See you back here in a few minutes."

After Vince left, Roxie and Jeff looked at each other in awkward silence. "So," she said at last. "You take care of old people for a job? Couldn't you think of anything better to do?"

Jeff just shook his head. "Vince was right about you," he said. "You really _are _a piece of work. I think I'll have you chat with Alfred today."

"Who's Alfred?" Roxie asked. "Is he nuts?"

"He has dementia, but is otherwise very pleasant company, so if he starts to veer off tangent and talk about strange things, that's why," Tony explained. He led her to a door and then knocked, opening the door and leading Roxie inside. Alfred looked at Jeff with suspicion as he entered, but when the old man saw Roxie, his eyes lit up and he began moaning.

"What's the matter with him?" Roxie asked, clutching at Jeff's arm. "Should I be worried? Are you going to sedate him or something?"

"No!" Jeff said, looking between Alfred and Roxie in amazement. "That's more of a reaction than we've had out of him in _days_! I knew bringing you in here was a good idea!" He gave Roxie a wink. "Have fun," he said and left the room. "And don't worry. I'll tell Vince where you are."

Once he was gone, however, Alfred blinked and gestured for Roxie to come closer. Roxie stood frozen for a moment then slowly edged toward him. "What do you want?" She asked when she finally reached the bed.

"You have to listen to me," Alfred said. "Now that he's gone, we can talk. I didn't want to say anything while he was in here, but you, I have a feeling I can tell you. Can I? Can I trust you?"

"Trust me with what?" Roxie asked.

"Never mind," Alfred said. "I'll tell you later. First though, I have to show you something. Could you open the drawer in my bedside table? I would, but I have arthritis, you know."

"Fine," Roxie said. She opened the drawer and gasped at the picture that met her eyes. She slowly pulled it out. "Where did you get this?" She asked.

"Do you know who it is?" Alfred asked her.

Roxie looked down at the picture of a blonde Selina. "Yeah. It's my moth-I mean, it's my grandmother. My very distant, several greats grandmother."

He grinned. "That's a lie, isn't it?"

"Of course it's not a lie!" Roxie said. "Look at the picture, old man! Can you see how much we look alike? Or are you blind as well?"

Alfred chuckled. "You can't fool me," he said. "You're just like her, you know."

"No, I'm not!" Roxie said. "Don't say that! Don't _ever_ say that!"

Alfred sat up. "I don't see why not. She was a pretty tomato, your mother was. Almost too pretty. When I found out why, I was surprised, although I shouldn't have been."

"What do you mean 'when you found out why'?" Roxie asked. "You _know_ what she is?"

He nodded. "Of course I know. I'm one too!"

Roxie's brow furrowed. "You mean you're a...vampire? But you're so _old_!"

"You don't have to tell me twice, sweetheart," he said. "I may be old now, but I didn't always look like this. I was quite the Beau Brummel in my day. Handsome as hell and I'm sure having a rather sizeable trust fund didn't hurt either."

"Yeah, yeah, you were good-looking and rich. So what?" Roxie asked. "Get to the point! Where does my mother come into all this?"

"I met her once," Alfred said. "Over a hundered years ago. It was in the late twenties, '28, I think. I had just celebrated my sixty-eighth birthday and was coming out of my club, a men's club that is, when I spotted the most beautiful woman walking down the street. She was alone, so I offered to walk her home."

"And that woman was my mother?" Roxie asked, feeling disgusted. "You're a complete sicko! My mom was then and is now a babe and you're so _old_! What were you _thinking_?"

Just then, there was a knock on the door and Alfred lapsed back into his comalike state. "Come in," Roxie said. Vince came in the room. "How are you both getting along in here?"

"Oh, just peachy," Roxie said, deftly moving Alfred's picture of her mother out of the way so Vince couldn't see it. "What did you want?"

"I just came in here for a picture," Vince said, holding up his camera. "Because you _know_ that people won't believe you helped out someone in the community unless they have some sort of photographic evidence."

"Oh, fine," Roxie said, going beside Alfred's bedside and posing. "Take your picture quick and go away. Alfred was telling me the most interesting story about aliens before you showed up."

"You know he has dementia, right?" Vince asked after he shot the picture. "Jeff says he drinks blood and talks about stuff that happened a long time ago."

"So does my dad and no one's put him in a home," Roxie said. "Maybe Alfred isn't as screwed up as Jeff thinks. Maybe he's a _vampire_!"

Vince smirked. "Did he tell you that? I wouldn't think you'd be so gullible."

"Well, who cares?" Roxie snapped. "We're getting along nicely and you need to go away, because he won't continue his fun story unless I'm the only one who's here."

"Well, fine," Vince said, getting up. "Glad to see you're enjoying yourself." He eyed her strangely and left the room.

"Who was _that_?" Alfred asked.

"Oh, he's my boyfriend," Roxie said. "Now, back to your story about my mother?"

"What sort of a name did she give a peach like you?" Alfred asked her.

"Roxanne," Roxie said.

"Oh," he nodded. "Just like the whore in that Sting song."

"Oh, I'm sure that's not where my name came from," Roxie said. "Now please just continue your story about my mother."

"I walked her home and told her goodbye, then I went to my house and I couldn't help but wonder where I'd seen her before. She seemed familair," Alfred continued. "I looked and looked and finally, in one of my mother's albums, I found a picture of her."

"You found a picture of my mom in one of your mom's photo albums? Who _was_ your mother?" Roxie asked.

"I doubt you've paid much attention to anything your mother's told you about her life, so my mother's name won't mean anything to you, but I'll tell you anyway," Alfred said. "Her name was Louisa Forbes and she and your mother were rivals, you might say. They both had their eye on the same man, but your mother won out in the end. Or so she thought."

"Forbes?" Roxie said. "Where do I know that name? I know it! I do!"

"Louisa had brothers, and their descendants are still around, doubtlessly," Alfred said. "That's probably where you heard the name from. Now, back to my story. I found a picture of her along with a news clipping about somebody called The Lady in Red dated from when I was four years old in early 1865. She'd lived in my mother's hometown of Mystic Falls,had gotten engaged to a soldier, and then run off with the town doctor after the soldier had gone off to war. But there was a rumor going around town several years later when I was in my early twenties that the lady in red had been turned into a vampire by the doctor, who was also a vampire himself. Nobody really wanted to believe that, though. He was too good a man for them to think of him as evil."

"So what did you do?" Roxie asked. "About my mom, I mean? Did you confront her?"

"Are you _stupid_?" Alfred asked. "For as long as I can remember, my parents always told me to be careful of vampires. Do you honestly believe that the first time I saw one, I would just confront it without a plan?"

"Well, whatever plan you came up with obviously didn't work, did it?" Roxie said. "Because here you are."

"She tricked me," Alfred said. "She led me to a cemetery one evening and every grave we went to was that of a girl whose heart I'd broken in my youth. Most of them committed suicide, you know. When we were on the tenth girl, she waited until I was facing the stone and then pinned my cape to the ground with a knife. As I struggled, she turned my head and I saw blood dripping down her palm. She forced it down my throat and then picked up the knife and I ran like hell. But she gave chase, planted the knife right in my middle, and next thing you know, I was a vampire. Seventy years old and a vampire. Forced to look at my wrinkles and spots every day for the rest of eternity."

"Wow," Roxie said. "A fitting end for someone who had always thought of himself as God's gift. Mom _does_ kind of have disdain for guys like that, although my dad and her first fiance, the soldier in story, were exactly the type. Kind of a circular thing, I guess." She shrugged.

"So your parents aren't together now?" Alfred asked.

Roxie shook her head. "No. Mom just married my uncle and now they're honeymooning in Europe."

"And I take it that makes you unhappy?" Alfred asked again.

Roxie nodded. "Yeah, I guess it does. I moved out of their house a long time ago and now I live in an apartment by myself. Granted it's a nice apartment, a penthouse in fact, but it's still an _apartment._"

"You know," Alfred said, "You're not so bad. I have a house that I'm not using because they'll never let me out of here. The keys are in a safe deposit box at the bank down town. I'll give you the necessary information and you can go get your hands on the deed and the keys. It's a nice place. I think you'll like it."

"And what about you?" Roxie asked. "I mean, you're clearly not crazy. Why do you stay here and act like it?"

Alfred sighed. "I'm old. Staying here is just easier than roughing it out on the streets."

"Oh, come on!" Roxie said. "Why don't you give it a shot?"

Alfred sat up. "All right. But you can't tell them that I'm really lucid. That'll spoil everything."

Roxie put her hands on her hips and gave Alfred a look. "How did you get in here, anyway? One of your kids check you in?"

Alfred shook his head. "Nope. Did it myself."

"Then it shouldn't be hard to get out," Roxie said. "Just tell them you're better and out you go."

"They think I'm crazy," Alfred said. "People don't exactly say 'isn't that lovely' if you tell them you're a vampire."

"You could compel them to let you go," Roxie said. "Alfred, do you know _anything_ about your powers at all? If not, Vince and I can help you learn. We're vampires too, fully equipped to teach all the ins and outs of our state of being."

Alfred leaned forward. "When can we start?"

* * *

><p>"I can't believe this," Vince said as he and Roxie stood on the front steps of Alfred's house. "You're telling me that you and that poor old guy had a nice chat and he decided to give you his <em>house<em>?" He gave Roxie a look. "You compelled him, didn't you?"

Roxie shook her head. "He gave it to me fair and square." She looked in the windows. "Oh, those chairs look comfy. And that fireplace is _beautiful_." She turned to Vince and held out her hand. "Give me the keys. I wanna go inside."

Vince shook his head. "No. You don't deserve this house."

"Well, then, where are we going to _sleep?_" Roxie asked. "In your car? Please tell me not in your car. There's no room to move around in there, if you get my drift."

Vince took her hand and led her around to the yard. "Either my car or the lawn. Take your pick."

"You aren't serious!" Roxie's jaw went slack. "I _swear_ I got his house legit! And come on. It has a _bowling alley_ in the basement! You like bowling don't you?"

Vince shook his head. "I couldn't enjoy it knowing the price it cost."

"Which was _nothing_!" Roxie said. "How many times do I have to say that?"

"Well, however many, it won't help your case," Vince said.

Roxie put her hands on her hips. "Well, fine! I don't have to put up with this. You enjoy sleeping in the yard. I'm going to spend my night somewhere that has actual beds in it!" She got in her car and drove off before Vince could say another word.

* * *

><p>"I'm back!" Damon said as he stood outside Stefan and Anna's front door. "Did Sam behave himself?"<p>

Stefan's lip quirked. "Come see."

Curious, Damon followed Stefan into a room where he saw Lucy standing in front of a mirror crying her eyes out. Her hair, which had once been long, was now almost nonexistent, just little tufts of blonde poking out of her head. She turned and when she saw Damon, she ran at him with her arms out. He picked her up and held her to himself. "What happened to you?" He asked.

"Sam decided to give her a little haircut," Stefan said. "And as you can see, he was very thorough. She hasn't stopped crying since it happened."

"Well, I'll just have to have a talk with Sam, won't I?" Damon said. "Tell him that's not what we do to girls."

"I wouldn't be too hard on him," Stefan grinned again. "Lucy gave as good as she got. Sam ended up with a broken nose, but if Anna and I hadn't broken them apart when we did, it would have been much worse for him."

Damon looked down at Lucy again. Her red face was buried against his shoulder. "You need a break?" He asked Stefan. "Why don't you and Anna go out and do something and I'll take care of these two."

Stefan nodded. "All right. Thanks a lot. I'll go get Sam and we'll put them both in your car. In fact, I think it might be best if someone else comes too. That way, you can keep a grip on Lucy, I'll keep a grip on Sam so no one gets hurt any more, and then the third person can drive." He went to Sam's room and got him and as they were making their way out of the house, Anna came in.

"Hello, Damon," she looked at Sam and Lucy. "Taking the warriors home, I see. Want me to drive? It would be difficult for one person to keep a hold of both of them at the same time."

"That's just what _I _thought," Stefan said. "Do you mind?"

Anna shook her head. "Of course not."

They drove to Damon's house and after Stefan and Anna left, Damon tried to calm the still hysterical Lucy down.

"Let me show you something pretty," he said to her. He brought her into his bedroom and set her down on the bed, then got down on his knees and rooted around underneath it, bringing up a large wooden box. "Wanna see what's in here?" he asked Lucy. She stopped crying, sniffled and nodded. He opened the box and Lucy's eyes widened. The box was full of diamond jewelry: rings, necklaces, bracelets, and even a tiara.

"All this was your mother's," Damon said. "Her mommy gave it to her, but she doesn't like it. She thinks it's too fancy. You wanna try some of it on?"

Lucy nodded and pretty soon, she had the tiara on her head and three bracelets on each arm. Damon picked her up and carried her to the bathroom. "I'm pitty," she said, smiling dreamily at her reflection.

Damon kissed her forehead. "Yes, you are."

Just then, they heard the doorbell ring and Sam came running in. "Roxie's here!" He said.

"Oh, great," Damon said, following Sam out of the bathroom. "You let her in, didn't you?"

"Yes," Sam nodded.

"Well, what's up?" Damon asked when he saw Roxie sitting on the sofa. "Are you okay?"

"Could I stay here for the night?" Roxie asked. "I got a new house and my boyfriend won't let me have the keys and use it because he says that I got the house under false pretenses even though I didn't."

"How _did_ you get the house?" Damon asked.

"Well, as you know, or if you don't, I'm running for student council president at school and Vince thought that one way to spruce up my image would be to show me in photos doing community service. So he took me down to the old folks' home and the guy I was supposed to bond with turned out to be a _vampire!_ Nobody believed him of course. They just thought he was senile. We chatted, he said he was one of Mom's victims during her bad phase, and that his mom had known her and you back when you both were alive."

"Who was his mom?" Damon asked.

"Louisa Forbes was the name he gave me," Roxie said. "Where have I heard it before?"

"Probably from Louisa's several greats nice Caroline," Damon said. "Just think: if I would have married Louisa, I'd be dead by now. Actually, I would have killed myself on our wedding night. She was insufferable. I much preferred your mother."

" Well, Louisa's son Alfred, who was turned into a vampire by Mom, bonded with me and gave me the house he never uses. What happend to Lucy?" Roxie asked. "I can't help but notice she has next to no hair."

"I did it," Sam said and burst out giggling. This caused Lucy to burst into tears again. "I'm going to take her out and calm her down," Damon said to Roxie. "Would you mind watching Sam?"

"Of course not," Roxie said. Once Damon and Lucy were gone, Roxie took Sam in her lap and hugged him. "Did I ever tell you you're my favorite?" She asked him.

* * *

><p>"Well, look who's here?" Roxie said when she opened the front door of Damon's house a few hours later. "I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away. I knew you'd call."<p>

"I just came to apologize," Vince said. "And were you really telling the truth when you said there's a bowling alley in the house?"

"Well, yeah!" Roxie said. "You want to try it out, don't you?"

"Well, I wouldn't say no," Vince said.

"Well, I would love to, but I'm watching my brother so he'd have to come with. Is that okay?" Roxie asked.

"Sure," Vince shrugged. "Why not?"

Roxie nodded. "All right. Sammy! We're going bowling!"

Sam came running out and Roxie picked him up, taking him out to Vince's car after leaving a note for Damon, explaining where she and Sam had gone.

* * *

><p>"He really seems to like you," Vince observed as he watched Roxie help Sam with his small bowling ball. "How did that happen?"<p>

"People like me," Roxie said. "I know you might find that hard to believe, but some people do." She turned away from him and helped Sam grip the ball. "All right," she said. "Now we have to push it _really_ hard so that it goes and knocks all those pins down at the end. See them?" Sam nodded. He and Roxie gave the ball a push and it rolled down the lane, knocking over seven of the pins.

"You did it!" Roxie said, hugging him. "Good job!" Sam grinned and jumped up and down. "I did it! I did it!"

After they picked up the spare, Roxie looked at Vince. "You were looking at my butt the whole time, weren't you?" She asked.

"What, me?" Vince asked. "Why would I do that?" But he broke into a grin anyway. "Yes," he said finally. "Yes, I was."

"Well at least you're honest," Roxie said.

After they finished bowling, they watched a movie, and by the time it was over, both Roxie and Sam had fallen asleep on the sofa. Vince threw a blanket over them and kissed Roxie on the forehead. "See?" He whispered. "I knew there was some good in you after all."

Later when Charlie called to ask where she was so they could go clubbing, Vince told her Roxie was busy.


	24. One Shock After Another

"I'm so glad we decided to go out today," Selina said as she and Elijah strode hand in hand through a park near the Eiffel tower. "I mean, yeah your father's here and after me and wanting my death, but I refuse to live in fear."

Elijah nodded. "Exactly. He'll only take you away if you kill someone and we both know you don't do that anymore. Even when it wasn't your fault the first time. You've grown up since he saw you last."

Selina nodded. "Of course I have. But I still can't help but feel like I should start really living my life again, you know? Just doing whatever I feel like right when I feel like doing it." A flock of birds congregated near a small lake in the middle of the park caught her eye. "Like, I don't know if it's the animal in me or what, but part of me really wants to run at those birds and make them scatter."

"I wouldn't," Elijah said. "It might be best if you leave the birds alone."

But Selina didn't listen to him. She ran at the birds, sending them squawking and scattering in all directions. But as she neared the lake, a sudden strong gust of wind threw her off balance and she began tottering toward the water, screaming as she failed to right herself and fell in.

"Selina!" Elijah called. Not thinking for a moment, he took a deep breath and sprinted toward the lake, diving headfirst into the water with his suit still on. He grabbed Selina by the arm and pulled her out of the water and back onto the grass. They were both soaked. She clutched him, coughing and spitting out water.

"Well that was dumb of me, wasn't it?" Selina said. "Thanks for rescuing me. I'm sorry you had to ruin your suit, though."

He shook his head and put both hands on either side of her face so that she was looking into his eyes. "I can always get another suit," he said.

"We could go shopping later," Selina said quietly.

Elijah's head inclined slightly. "But first we might as well go back so we can both change our clothes," he said. "I for one don't want to walk around soaking wet all day. Do you?"

Selina shook her head. "No. Let's go change."

* * *

><p>"What do you think is going on at home?" Selina asked as she washed herself off and worked soap through her hair. "Do you think everyone is all right? I haven't heard from Adrian in <em>days<em> and I have to say I'm a bit worried."

"Why?" Elijah asked her. "I'm sure he's fine. He's a grown man and he can handle himself. You have to let him."

"Oh, I know," Selina said. "It's just that he's the first child of mine that I ever had the chance to care for, you know? He wasn't my first child. That was Sam's brother Joshua, but I didn't get to raise him. Doctor Stensrund had him sent away to live with Damon's father, which really _was_ the best thing for him, but because of that loss, whenever Adrian had a milestone, I didn't handle it well."

Elijah nodded. "Oh, yes. I remember when he turned thirteen. One of the first things you did was insist to Niklaus that the two of you have another baby because you thought Adrian wouldn't need you anymore."

"Looking back, that might have been a rash decision," Selina said, thinking of Roxie. "But Roxie's not all bad. She has a goal now. She wants to be president of her class. That's admirable, right?"

"I suppose," Elijah said. "It all depends on what she does with her power once she gets it."

"I'm sure she won't take anything too far," Selina said. "She's got Vince to think about, thank god. He's a very sensible guy. He keeps her in check."

"But back to Adrian," Elijah said. "How long _has_ it been since you've last heard from him?"

Selina shrugged. "I don't know. I honestly couldn't tell you when the last time was. When we get back, we have to go over and see them. Or I have to. Just for my own peace of mind."

* * *

><p>"How long has it been since you've talked to your mother?" Helene asked Adrian. "You know she gets worried if you don't call her at least once a month."<p>

Adrian nodded. "Yeah. It's like my first day of kindergarten all over again."

"I thought that was kind of cute, actually," Helene said, smirking. "And you _liked_ it that she spent the day in class with us. Don't deny you didn't."

"I didn't!" Adrian said. "It was so embarrassing!"

"Well, what about when the bigger boys tried to steal your cookies and she got them away from you?" Helene asked. "Or when you couldn't get a swing and she picked up Jake Suffield and sat him down in the sandbox so you could take his swing? She was useful."

"But your _dad_ never came to kindergarten," Adrian said. "He left you alone!"

Helene scoffed. "Not when I was older he didn't. Remember that time your parents were gone so you invited me over to come see a movie? Who came with me? That's right. My dad. And when you brought me back my hairclip at two in the morning? Remember how stealthy we had to be in order to get you out of my room so that Dad wouldn't find out you'd been there?"

"I had a lot of explaining to do to my parents when I got back to the house," Adrian said. "But at least I left them a note. I had that going on in my favor. And then Dad wanted to have the sex talk with me because he thought you and I had..." Adrian trailed off.

Helene nodded. "A reasonable assumption, but we were good and waited three years."

"And then you ended up in the hospital because I bit you," Adrian said. "I always felt bad about that."

"So bad you decided to dump me?" Helene asked. "Was guilt what brought that on?"

Adrian sighed. "I don't know what made me decide to leave you, but I think it was your dad. He looked so sad when he saw how badly hurt you were and seemed so earnest when he talked about wanting you to have a regular life that I just...I got sucked in, you know? He made me agree with him!"

"Well, I think he was wrong when he told me that," Helene said. "You and I are having a pretty normal life right now. We've dated, we've married and next..."

Adrian nodded. "I know what comes next."

"And I know you're nervous about it," Helene said. "Why? Talk to me."

Adrian shrugged. "I don't know, I mean look at me. Do you think I'm mature enough to take care of somebody else? What if I'm not? What if I mess up?"

"You've done all right all the times we've watched Lucy," Helene pointed out. "And Lucy seems to like you."

"Yeah, but Lucy's different," Adrian said. "If we screw up with her, we can just send her back to Mom and Uncle Elijah's and they can deal with her, but if it's our kid and we screw up, we can't just push the kid off on someone else."

Helene ran a hand down his back. "It's natural to be scared," she said. "It happens to everyone before they have kids."

"And they won't have kids like ours," Adrian said. "Ours are gonna be pretty high maintenance: lycanthropy and vampirism from me, magic from you...what if it all gets to be too much?"

"We'll deal with it," Helene assured him. "I'm almost certain the magical powers that be will have an opinion about us having a kid that's too powerful. Maybe Hazel will have advice about what we should do."

Adrian nodded. "Maybe." He paused. "You know, maybe I _should_ call my mom. It might do me some good."

"You do that," Helene said. "Do whatever you need to to make yourself feel better."

But after about an hour, Adrian came back looking worried. "I called her house like three times and she won't answer," he said. "Helene, would you call your dad? Maybe he knows where they are."

"They're on their honeymoon, remember?" Helene asked Adrian. "Your mom and Elijah left for Paris a couple of days ago and they won't be back for quite awhile."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Adrian asked. "You would have saved me a lot of trouble."

"Well, I only remembered just now," Helene told him. "I'm sorry." She put a hand to her head and sucked in her breath. "Oh, god."

"Are you all right?" Adrian asked. "Can I get you something? What's the matter?"

"Headache," Helene told him. "It's probably because of the heat. I think I'll go lie down for a little while."

"All right," Adrian said. "Let me know if you need anything."

Helene nodded. "I will. Thank you." She walked to her and Adrian's bedroom and froze in the doorway. Hazel, in all her ethereal blonde, blue-eyed glory, was sitting cross-legged on the bed.

"Hello, Helene," she said.

"I haven't done any magic lately, I swear," Helene said quickly. "So whatever your father thinks I've done, he's mistaken."

"I'm not here to scold you on behalf of my father," Hazel said gently. "I'm here to help you. Come sit down next to me."

"All right," Helene cautiously approached the bed and eased herself down on to it. "So, what brings you here?"

Hazel reached out and moved a strand of Helene's dark hair out of her eyes. "You haven't really been feeling well for a while now, have you?" Hazel asked.

Helene sighed. "No. But it's been warm and I figure heat can make a person not feel their best. I know I'll feel better once things cool down."

"Oh, I don't know," Hazel said. She had a smirk on her face as if she knew a secret she was dying to tell.

"What do you mean?" Helene asked. "Is something wrong with me? What is it?"

"I think you can guess," Hazel said. "What you and Adrian have been discussing is very pertinent."

"You mean about us having a baby?" Helena asked. "Why would it be...?" Her eyes widened. "Am I?"

"Yes," Hazel nodded. "Yes, you are."

"But how do you know?" Helene asked. "Is it some magical thing?"

"Enid often gives Adrian's mother the news," Hazel said. "And I have no doubt she'll be doing it again sometime soon. But back to talking about you, how are you going to tell Adrian?"

Helene sighed. "I know I should tell him _now_ because he has the right to know, but he's just so freaked out by the idea of us having a baby that I don't know if I want to just yet. Maybe I should wait until his mom comes back from Paris so she can give him moral support."

"And _he_ can give _her_ moral support," Hazel said. "I have a feeling they're both going to need it."

* * *

><p>"So what are we going to do now?" Selina asked. "Want to go and get a new suit? And while we do that, we might also be able to answer a question that has long been on my mind."<p>

"Oh, yes?" Elijah asked. "And just what is that?"

Selina leaned across the small table to look into Elijah's eyes. "What kind of clothes does Miss Stinson wear? I mean, on the rare occasions she wears clothes at all?"

Elijah thought a moment. "I don't think you'd like the wardrobe ideas I have in my head," he said. "Much too conservative for you. Mainly neutral colors."

"Well it wouldn't really matter if I wouldn't be wearing them for very long anyway," Selina said. "I wouldn't, would I?"

Elijah shook his head. "Well no, of course not."

"So do you want to go and get your other suit then? And tonight we'll go out and do something."

Elijah nodded. "I'd like that."

They found a store and bought Elijah three new suits and then Selina said, "So now are we getting Miss Stinson clothes?"

"I don't see why you're so insistent on getting an entire Miss Stinson wardrobe if all I'm going to do is take it off of you," Elijah said. "What's the point?"

"It helps me get into character," Selina said. "Surely you have more to her in your head than just that she's a woman who struts around in Mr. Richmond's dress shirts and sleeps with him."

"Of course!" Elijah said. "I know you read my stories. How could you not have after you and Anna stole them from my office?"

"We did that because we were curious," Selina said. "And that was Anna's idea, not mine."

Elijah rolled his eyes. "I believe that, actually." They stopped at a Chanel outlet and Selina said, "I'll just go inside myself. You don't have to come. It probably won't even take me very long."

"But I _do_ have to come," Elijah said. "How would you know what clothes you're supposed to be looking for if I'm not in there with you?"

"It's easy," Selina said. "I'll just look for the most boring coordinating separates and put them together."

"It's not so easy as _that_," Elijah said.

Selina smirked. "You just want to watch me undress," Selina said. "Admit it."

Elijah sighed. "Well, I wouldn't say no to watching you undress, you have me there."

"Well, all right," Selina said. "Give me five minutes and then come inside."

When Elijah finally went inside the store, the entire place was empty except for Selina and two sales clerks. "Where did everyone go?" He asked her. "Did you do anything to them?"

"No," Selina said. "I simply suggested tht they all leave and they left. Didn't you see the herd of women flooding out onto the streets? Didn't that make you the least bit curious?"

"A little," Elijah said. "But not enough. I suppose as long as you didn't kill anyone..."

"And I didn't," Selina said. "With your father just _waiting_ for me to slip up, that would be stupid of me, wouldn't it? Now, come into the dressing room with me and I'll show you some of the things I've picked out."

He followed her into the dressing room and although there was an occasional red or purple blouse, the majority of clothing she had picked out was in appropriate neutral shades, mostly white and gray.

"You've done well," Elijah said, fingering a white silk blouse.

"Well, sit down," Selina said, winking. "I'll do better."

He sat down on one of the benches across from a mirror, and then Selina closed the dressing room door and began slowly removing her clothes. Elijah kept his eyes on her the whole time, and she grinned when he made a small sound in his throat. When she was completely naked, she grinned. "Wanna know a secret?" She asked.

"It depends," he said. "What kind of secret?"

"I didn't want to come here to pick out Miss Stinson clothes," she said. "I already know that wearing your shirts is good enough for me."

"So why are we here?" Elijah asked. "If not to get clothes for you?"

"Have you ever wanted to do something a little dangerous?" She asked him. "To take a risk? I have. That's why I wanted to come here." She leaned forward slowly and kissed him. His hands went over her stomach and breasts, but then he pulled out of the kiss as he felt her trying to unbutton his pants and pull down his zipper.

"What are you _doing_?" He whispered angrily. "Have you completely lost your mind?"

"You just felt like you needed to be let out," Selina said. "I was helping."

Breathing hard, he stumbled away from her. "Did you bring me here in hopes that we would have sex in a clothing store dressing room?" He asked. "Is that what you wanted?"

"Not that specifically," Selina said. "I've always wanted to have a time where I run the risk of getting caught. It's been a fantasy of mine for a long time."

"And of all places, why would you choose a clothing store dressing room?" Elijah asked. "There are other places. Ones that actually have beds. Frankly, I would prefer not to make love to you on the floor."

A slow grin came over Selina's lips. "What sort of place do you suggest then? And it better not be your house. We've done it there already."

"No," Elijah shok his head. "I have an even better idea."

* * *

><p>After Selina had dressed, they made their way to a history museum just outside of Paris that, of all things, claimed to have the bed used by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. They spent the day looking at the exhibits, and by nightfall, had seen pretty much the entire place.<p>

"I thought you said we were going to do something risky," Selina said. "Were you lying to me?"

"No," Elijah said, holding her hand tight. "Just be patient, please."

As they made their way toward the bed, they heard a voice over the loudspeaker announcing that the museum would be closing in five minutes.

"Did you hear that?" Selina whispered. "The museum is gonna close soon!"

"Good," Elijah said. "That's what I was waiting for." They finally reached the exhibit with the bed in it and Selina watched in shock as Elijah untucked the blankets and threw them aside. "What are you _doing?_" She whispered.

He began pulling off his clothes. "I'm undressing," he said. He got into the bed and raised an eyebrow at her."Would you care to join me?"

"In there?" Selina asked. "Are you seriously suggesting that you and I..._in there_?"

He sighed. "I thought you wanted to take a risk," he said. "But if you're too scared than I suppose we can just go back to the house and..."

"I am _not_ scared!" Selina said. "But if somebody comes and finds us, I'm blaming you!"

"We aren't going to get in trouble," Elijah said, pulling her towards him and unzipping her dress. "If someone comes, we'll simply compel them to go away. It's easy enough." He freed her from her sleeves and the dress fell to the ground. "Come here," he said, pulling her up with him. "How's this for a true risk?"

"A really good choice, I admit," Selina said as he kissed down her neck. "Not something I would expect from you."

He pulled the blanket over them. "You underestimate me after all this time," he said. "That hurts."

She gasped as he sucked on her breasts. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to underestimate you at all."

He grinned. "Let that be a lesson to you," he said. He kissed her and slowly eased into her, and they kept that up all night. Finally, they fell asleep, but they weren't asleep for long. They were awakened in the early morning hours by an older man holding a flashlight and wearing a security guard's uniform.

"What in the hell...?" He whispered. He turned on the light and Selina struggled to cover herself up.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, looking sickened. "No one's supposed to be here."

Elijah sat up and pushed his covers aside, getting out of bed and slowly advancing toward the man. "You're right," he said. "No one's supposed to be here. So you just go away, and don't say a word to anyone. That way, I won't have to kill you. I'd prefer not to. And if anyone else tells you they plan on coming this way, you tell them to change their plans. Do you understand me?"

The man nodded.

"All right," Elijah said. "Then go. And don't come back."

The man nodded, dropped his flashlight and ran for his life.

"Now where were we?" Elijah asked Selina.

"Well, we were sleeping," Selina said as he climbed back into bed. "But suddenly, I feel a renewed surge of energy."

"What a coincidence," he said, pulling her under the covers. "Me too."

* * *

><p>For what seemed like the gazillionth day in a row, Damon was awakened by a loud shriek.<p>

"All right," he said, throwing open the door to Lucy's room. "Can't the two of you get along for more than two seconds? What do I have to do to make the two of you behave?"

Sam and Lucy looked up at him. Sam had some sort of sticky substance in his hair and was holding a pillow. Given Lucy's position on the floor, Damon assumed Sam had whacked Lucy with the pillow and she'd toppled to the floor.

Damon rubbed his temples and picked them both up to take them to the bathroom. He fit both Sam and Lucy into the tub and struggled to clean them both off, especially when they got into a splash fight.

"I can't wait until Selina gets back," Damon said to himself.

"Problems?" Joshua asked, appearing beside him quite suddenly and distracting his attention so that he got a face full of water.

"What does it look like?" Damon asked, sputtering.

Joshua tried not to laugh. "I could help you," he said. "Would you like my help?"

"No," Damon said sarcastically. "I'm doing perfectly fine by myself."

"Well, all right," Joshua said. "If you're going to be smart, then I'll just leave you alone."

"I was kidding," Damon said. "I'm sorry. Please don't go!"

"I wasn't going to," Joshua said. "I had four children, each two years apart, so I know what having multiple small children is like, especially since Emma died giving birth to our youngest."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Damon said. "I had no idea."

"It's all right," Joshua said. "Mother came to her funeral and then she helped me out, even though it was a bit problematic for her."

"For your mother?" Damon asked. "What problem could she possibly have had?"

Joshua got Sam to stop splashing Lucy and then began to work shampoo through his hair, especially in the sticky area. "Mother didn't like being called 'Grandma'. She went along with it for the children's sake, but it was hard not to miss the tremors that went through her body every time one of them said the word to her. She told me once that it made her feel old. Much older than she liked to think she was."

"Wow," Damon said. "I never thought of your mother as a vain person, but..._wow_."

"You're going to be smart with this knowledge, aren't you?" Joshua asked. "You aren't going to lord it over her? I promised I'd never tell anyone."

"Well, I'm glad you told me," Damon said. "I missed out on a lot all the years Selina and I weren't together."

"All clean!" Lucy said, holding out her hands. "Let me out!" Her hair was still a bit short, but she seemed to have gotten over it. Damon took her out and dressed her and Joshua did the same with Sam.

"We should do something today," Damon said. "What should we do?"

"I want to go to the zoo!" Lucy said.

"Me too!" Sam agreed.

"Well it seems we've reached a consensus," Damon said and after saying goodbye to Joshua, herded Sam and Lucy to his car where he got them both in their carseats. As he was pulling out of the driveway, his phone rang.

"Hello?" He said. "Helene? Is that you? You want me to come over? Sure!" He hung up the phone and drove to Helene's.

"What's going on?" He asked when she met him at the door. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Helene shook her head. "It's just that...I'm pregnant and I need help from you."

"What sort of help?" Damon asked.

"I need you to help me figure out a way to tell Selina," Helene said. "Should I just tell her flat out? The news that Adrian's going to be a father is going to be tough on her I think."

"Just be honest with her," Damon said. "Don't beat around the bush."

"Are you sure?" Helene asked. "I thought about that, but then I didn't think that would be the best way."

"Is Adrian here now?" Damon asked.

Helene shook her head. "No. He and his dad are out for the day. I'm here by myself."

"You could come to the zoo with us," Damon suggested. "I could use an extra set of hands and we can talk more about this on the way."

"Sure," Helene nodded. "Just let me leave Adrian a note and we'll be out of here."

* * *

><p>When they reached the zoo, Helene and Damon bought Sam and Lucy ice creams at the entrance (Sam had strawberry and Lucy had chocolate), and then Helene pushed their stroller through the zoo entrance gates.<p>

"What do you want to see first?" Helene asked them.

They looked up at her and said nothing, so Damon just suggested they start at one side of the zoo and go around in a circle. The penguins were a particular favorite and so were the elephants, but when they reached the monkey cage, they ran into trouble. As Helene lifted Lucy out of the stroller so she could get a better look at a baby monkey, her small shoe fell off and went right into the monkey cage. She burst into tears and wouldn't calm down until a keeper handed Helene her shoe and Helene put it back on her and gave her a hug. As they wheeled away from the monkey cage, Sam burst into laughter. Lucy reached forward and pulled his hair. Helene managed to stop them before it turned ugly. Their next stop was the lion house. Damon took Sam and Lucy out of the stroller so they could get right up next to the glass. The male lion was pacing around his cage. Then Lucy's zebra print hoodie caught his eye. He strode up to the glass and let out a mighty roar. Sam fell backward onto his bottom and burst into tears. Lucy remained upright and she and the lion engaged in a staring contest for a few minutes, then Lucy raised her arms and let out a roar of her own. Then the lion slowly backed away and went to sun himself on a rock. Lucy turned away from the cage looking smug and asked Damon to put her back in her stroller.

"Well, that was fun," Helene said as they left the lion house.

"Did you know she was gonna do that?" Damon asked.

Helene shook her head. "No, but it doesn't surprise me."

* * *

><p>The day Selina and Elijah were supposed to leave Paris, something disturbing came up in the news.<p>

"Oh, my god!" Selina said, striding into the kitchen and slamming the paper down in front of Elijah. "Would you look at that? There's been a murder! Not just one! Two!"

Elijah took the paper and looked it over. "Two couples were found dead last night. The men were found horribly mutilated and their wives beside them, dead due to a single gunshot wound to the head in both cases. The women's throats were also cut but not enough to be fatal."

Elijah looked up at her. "This is the sort of thing that Lonely Heart had you do, isn't it?"

Selina nodded. "Well, yes. But I _swear_ I didn't leave the house last night. I couldn't have killed those people! Please believe me!"

Elijah nodded. "I do," he said. "And that means we're going to have to leave. Pack your things quickly."

Selina ran to her room and began throwing things in suitcases. At a knock on the bedroom door, she let out a shriek.

Steeling himself, Elijah went to answer the door, letting out his breath when he saw Alistair and not his father on the other side. "Are you two packing?" He asked Elijah. "After the murders last night, that might be the best thing."

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "We are." He stood up. "I'm going to go throw some things in a bag."

Alistair nodded. "And if your father comes, I'll stall him enough for you to get away."

Elijah sprinted to the bedroom and threw his things in a bag. As they were on their way out, the doorbell rang again. Alistair answered it, finding Selina's friend Olivia on the other side.

"Hi!" she said chirpily. "Lovely day isn't it? Sera, why didn't you tell me you were still in town? I had to find out from a murder article in the paper."

"Livy, I would love to stay and chat, but I have to go," Selina said, trying to push past her. "It's a bit of an emergency."

"What could be so bad?" Olivia asked.

"Those murders," Selina said. "Those murders will be the death of me unless I leave Paris." She elbowed Olivia aside and ran out of the house with Elijah following her. As she got outside, she felt a grip on her arm. She found herself looking into Mikael's eyes.

"Hello," he said. "Something told me I'd see you again."

Selina shook her head. "I didn't do it," she said. "It wasn't me! Let me go!"

Elijah grabbed her other arm. "Let her go, Father. She didn't commit those murders. I don't know who did, but it wasn't her."

"How can you be so sure?" Mikael asked him.

"I was with her all night," Elijah said. "I would have known if she'd left."

"Stop lying to me," Mikael said. "You're in love with her and it's clouding your judgment."

"It's not," Elijah said. "She's innocent."

"I don't believe you," Mikael said.

"All right," Selina said. "If you let Elijah be the one to bring me, I'll come quietly," she said.

Mikael eyed her suspiciously for a moment then shoved her into Elijah's arms. "Let's go," he said.

"We'll follow you," Elijah said. But as soon as Mikael's back was turned. Selina grabbed Elijah's hand and pulled him along after her as she ran toward the marina where their boat sat.

"What are you _doing?" _Elijah asked.

"We just have to make it to the boat!" Selina said. "Once we do, that'll get us back to the present day and out of danger!"

Mikael gave chase and almost caught them several times. When they got to the dock, Elijah felt it would be the end for them, but was surprised when Selina took a deep breah, dove into the water and began swimming toward their boat, which was on the opposite side of the dock. They climbed into the boat just as Mikael reached them and with a _woosh! _returned to the present day.

* * *

><p>"Oh, my god," Selina said. "That is something I never hope to experience again."<p>

"Not fun, was it?" Elijah asked.

Selina shook her head. "Now I just need to rest. I don't think I can handle any more stress. I just want to go home and rest."

"What about going to see Adrian?" Elijah asked. "Do you still wan to go and see him?"

"Oh, yeah," Selina said. "I should probably do that."

They called for a car from the boat and when it came to pick them up, Elijah went off to his house and then Selina went to Adrian's. She was surprised when Helene opened the door and hugged her.

"I'm so glad you're here," she said. "Now that you and Adrian are here, I have something I need to tell you both."

"What is it?" Selina asked, taking a seat next to Adrian who looked just as eager. "What do you have to tell us?"

"All right, I'll just come out with it," Helene said. "You two, I'm pregnant."

The room was silent for a moment and then Selina and Adrian looked at one another and said at the sam time, "Oh, my god."


	25. Faded Like A Flower

"Are you all right?" Helene asked Adrian and Selina, who sat frozen in front of her. "Would one of you say something?"

"Could you repeat what you just said?" Selina asked.

"Sure," Helene nodded. "I'm pregnant. Hazel told me."

"That's what I _thought_ you said," Selina told her. "I just wanted to be sure." She sucked in her breath and stood up. "I think I need to go lie down."

"What's the matter?" Helene asked her. "I thought you'd be happy."

"Oh, I am," Selina nodded. "I just need a little time to process this. It's big news."

"I understand," Helene said. As Selina headed for a bedroom, Helene looked at Adrian. "Do you need to rest too?" She asked.

"Oh, no," Adrian said. "I'm fine. In fact, I think I'll go tell Dad. And Grandma. And Grandpa. They'll be glad to know this too."

And before Helene could respond, he shot out of the house and she heard him drive away, probably to Enid's. That's the only place she knew of that his grandfather was.

Sighing, she went to call her father. "I just told them," she said.

"And how did they react?" He asked. "Scared, like I told you they would be?"

"Well, yeah," Helene nodded. "Adrian's off to Enid's and Selina is resting. Why couldn't they just be happy for me like you and Mom were?"

"I was in Adrian's place once," Alistair told her. "When your mother told me we were going to have you, I was terrified in the beginning. But after I had time to get used to the idea, I realized I couldn't wait. Adrian will come around. He just needs time. As for Selina, I don't know what to tell you. But based on how she was when Adrian was on the way, it might be best not to mention the baby around her any more than is absolutely necessary. At least until she's better, anyway."

"All right," Helene said. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Daddy."

As soon as she hung up the phone, she made up a cup of tea and took it in to Selina. "Are you better now?" She asked. "Can I get you anything else?"

Selina took the tea. "Thank you," she said. "But you really didn't need to do this. I'm fine. After I finish this, I'll go home and fill Elijah in on our newest addition. I'm happy for you and Adrian, Helene. I really am." She finished her tea, and then got up to leave, telling Helene goodbye. "Don't be afraid to call me if you need anything," she said, giving Helene a hug. "Take care of yourself."

"You too," Helene said. "Goodbye."

* * *

><p>Elijah came into the bedroom and heard the shower running. He opened the bathroom door and went inside. "So did you get to see Adriand and Helene?" He asked. "How are they?"<p>

The water turned off and Selina stepped out of the shower. She faced him dripping wet from head to toe. "Sorry for the delay, boss," she said. "We can get started on work now...if you want."

She sashayed toward him and kissed him. "Oh, look," she said. "Your suit's wet. We might as well take it off."

"Perhaps," Elijah said. He grabbed a towel and began patting her dry. "But you didn't answer my question: how are Adrian and Helene? Are they all right?"

Selina began nibbling on his ear, but then quite suddenly burst into tears, clinging to him again. "It's not fair!" She cried. "They ruined _everything_!"

"Ruined what?" Elijah asked, putting her at arms' length and wrapping a towel around her. "What's happened?"

Selina sobered for a moment. "Nothing," she said. "I'm fine." She let the towel drop, eased off his suit jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt. "Now, where were we?"

"Why can't you just tell me about Adrian and Helene?" Elijah asked. "Clearly they've done something to upset you and I'd like to know what it is so I can make you feel better."

"You can't do anything," Selina said, sniffling. "So there's no point in dwelling on what can't be changed. I'll be able to deal with it. I'm happy they're having a baby. A baby who will call me _grandma_!" The last word made her dissolve into fresh sobs and she threw herself into his arms, soaking his shoulder. She even blew her nose once.

Elijah winced, picked her up, and carried her to bed. "Now why don't you just lie down, take a deep breath and sleep?" He said, running a hand over her bare back. "You've been through a lot. No wonder you're so overwrought." As she continued to whimper, he shushed her. "It's all right," he whispered. "It's all right. Just shut your eyes and everything will be all right tomorrow."

She stopped crying and sniffled. "You're right," she said. "I'm sorry. I'll be okay tomorrow."

Elijah was calm. Selina had had a shock, but she seemed all right. She'd said she was happy for Adrian and Helene and that was that. But about a week later, he woke up early one morning to the most awful noise: It sounded as if someone was dying and it was coming from his and Selina's bathroom.  
>He got out of bed and went to the bathroom door, knocking on it. "Are you all right, darling?" He asked her.<br>"No," she called back. "I don't feel so good. I've been sick in here for almost an hour."  
>"Well, can I get you anything?" He asked.<br>"No," she said. "I think I'm good now." She flushed the toilet and came out of the bathroom. He looked her over. She looked all right. Not overly pale or anything.  
>"Why don't you try and get some sleep?" He said. "That might make you feel better."<br>She nodded. "All right."  
>He watched her fall asleep and couldn't get back to sleep himself. It had been several days since he'd truly slept well.<p>

* * *

><p>The next morning, he went to see Lucy and noticed something strange. "Lucy?" He said to his niece, "where's the bear that's always on your pillow?"<br>"Mommy wanted it," Lucy said. "She came in my room and took it away."  
>"Why?" Elijah asked.<br>Lucy shrugged. "I dunno."  
>They went out to breakfast and were well into eating when Selina came into the kitchen. "Good morning all," she said cheerfully. "How are we today?"<br>"Mommy," Lucy asked, "what's wrong with your tummy?"  
>Selina's middle was protruding slightly and she had her palm on it. When she reached for her coffee cup, Lucy's bear fell on the floor.<br>Selina looked down and picked it up, cradling it. "Well, look who's here!" She said, eyeing the bear fondly. "Willy, the newest member of our family!"  
>Lucy frowned. "His name's not Willy! It's Big Bear!"<p>

"No!" Selina clutched the bear. "His name is _not_ Big Bear. It's Willy!"

Lucy carefully got off her chair and went to grab the bear's arm. "It's _my_ bear! Give it back! Why does everyone always take my bear?"

Selina pulled the bear from the other side. "Let it go, Lucy! If you don't, I'll send you to your room!"

When Lucy refused to let the bear go, Selina pried her fingers off his arm, handed the bear to Elijah and then picked Lucy up to take her to her room. "I'm not kidding," she told Lucy. "This is _not_ a bear! It's your brother Willy and you will stay in here until you remember that."

"This isn't fair!" Lucy said.

"Well, life's tough," Selina said. She gave Lucy a spanking and slammed Lucy's bedroom door closed, going back to the kitchen, taking Willy from Elijah. "I'm glad that's settled," she said. "I don't know what's gotten into Lucy. She's usually such a good girl." She cradled the bear to her and then grinned at Elijah. "This is nice, just the three of us out here. Isn't it?"

"Well, of course," Elijah said. "I think I'll have a talk with Lucy about what just happened. Is that all right with you?"

"Of course," Selina said. "But don't let her come out of her room for an hour. She's in time out."

"All right," Elijah said. "I won't be in her room for very long."

She nodded and he got up and went to Lucy's room, knocking twice on her door. "Come in," Lucy said.

He went inside and found Lucy sitting against her bed clutching a doll. "What's wrong with Mommy?" she asked. "She's scaring me. and she _hitted_ me too!"

Elijah sat next to her and sighed. "I don't know," he said. " And I 'm sure she didn't mean to hurt you. But maybe you should go be somewhere else until I figure out what's wrong with her. Would that be all right with you?"

"Where would I go?" Lucy asked. "To be with Daddy?"

"If you'd like," Elijah said. "Is that what you want?"

"Okay," Lucy said. Elijah picked her up and they left her room and went back to the kitchen.

"I thought you said you were going to keep her in time out," Selina told Elijah. "I'm surprised that you'd do something like go against my rules. The kids will never respect us unless we back each other up."

"And normallly, I would," Elijah said. "But Lucy hasn't done anything to deserve punishment."

"Yes, she did!" Selina said. "She wasn't very welcoming to Willy. And families have to be nice to each other."

"What's wrong with you?" Elijah asked. "Because clearly, something has happened. And I'm going to send Lucy to Niklaus' so you and I can figure out what it is and we can fix it."

"You don't like Willy either?" Selina asked. "Do you know what happens to a boy's self-esteem if his father doesn't like him? You should, after all those years of growing up around Nicky and _your_ stupid father. What's his problem anyway? Was hating Nicky not enough and he has to hate me too now? What did I ever do to him?"

"We'll discuss that after I come back from dropping off Lucy," Elijah said. "I trust you and Willy will find a way to entertain yourselves while we're gone?"

"Damn right we will," Selina said. "And hell, you don't even have to come back if you don't want to. Stay away forever, for all I care!"

"I'll be back," Elijah said to her. "I won't leave you now, even if you _have_ completely lost your mind."

* * *

><p>"Well, this is a surprise," Klaus said when he answered the door and found Elijah and Lucy on the other side. "What's going on?"<p>

"Mommy's gone _crazy_!" Lucy burst out. "She took my bear and hitted me amd made me stay in my room!"

"Well, why would she do that?" Klaus asked Lucy, taking her in his lap when they reached the living room. "Did you do something naughty?"

"No," Lucy shook her head earnestly. "I was a good girl."

"It's true, Niklaus," Elijah said. "Selina hasn't been herself since she found out Helene and Adrian are expecting. She's now convinced that Lucy's bear is a child and can't be told otherwise. I thought it might be best if you kept Lucy here until I sorted the situation out."

"I don't know what you're so worried for," Klaus said. "She's probably just pregnant herself. It'll go away in a few months."

"I don't think so," Elijah said. "We haven't even talked about that yet. I mean we will eventually, but we haven't said a word yet."

"Well, it might not hurt to bring it up," Klaus said. "This seems to be desperate cry for help."

"I'll bear that in mind," Elijah said. "Now, I should probably be going now. Left alone in the state she's in, who _knows_ what Selina might decide to do? It could be anything!"

* * *

><p>Selina pulled up in front of Damon's house and parked the car. She had to go inside and see Sam. She had to salvage whatever she could of the relationship with Sam. Soon, he'd be all grown up like Adrian was and she didn't want him to hate her because they'd never spent any time together. She took Willy out of the carseat and walked with him to Damon's front door, knocking three times.<p>

"And how's Grandma today?" Damon asked when he opened the door. "Did you come to see Sam?"

Selina burst into tears and threw her arms around his neck. "My god, how did you find out?"

"Helene told _me_ first," Damon said. "And may I say 'congratulations'?"

"No, you damn well may not!" Selina said. "I don't want to be anybody's grandma! It was hard enough the first time. I can't go through it again!" She sniffled and ripped off her clothes, standing in front of Damon in just her underwear. "I mean, look at me! I'm hot, right?"

"Well, of course!" Damon said. "I've never thought otherwise."

"Grandmas are supposed to be _old_ and _wrinkly_ and _knit sweaters_!" Selina said. "That's not me! I just-I feel terrible. I feel _undesirable._"

"I could help with that." Damon reached out and slipped a finger underneath the clasp of her bra, just in time to hear a small noise. He turned around and saw Joshua standing just inside the kitchen, looking at him with disapproval.

"Father," he said. "Come in here, please."

"Why?" Damon asked. "I wasn't actually going to _do_ anything! Give me _some_ credit, would you?"

"You were thinking about it," Joshua said. "That's why you greeted her the way you did. You thought you'd upset her and then she'd be vulnerable, and the two of you would-" He winced, not finishing the sentence."

"Oh, don't judge me," Damon said. "I bet you a hundred dollars that you had the exact same reaction the first time _you_ saw her."

"When I first saw her, she just seemed sad to me," Joshua said. "She missed you. A lot."

"She did?" Damon asked.

"Yes," Joshua nodded. "She thought I was you at first. I mean, not that I blame her, because she had no idea what I looked like. And perhaps I _did_ think she was pretty. I still do. In a purely aesthetic sense of course. And that's all you should feel too. She's _married_ for god's sake!"

"Oh, all right," Damon said, looking perturbed. "Fine. I'll go tell her to put her clothes on."

"Just make sure you do," Joshua said, following his father out of the kitchen.

"You don't have to follow me," Damon said.

"I want to be absolutely sure," Joshua said. "Both for her sake and yours."

Damon handed Selina her clothes. "Here," he said. "You have to put these back on."

"But why?" Selina asked. "I thought we were going to have some fun."

"We still can," Damon said. "Why don't you put on your clothes and we'll go play ball in the backyard? That's fun, isn't it?"

"I was thinking more like grown up fun," Selina said. "You always say you want to have grown up fun with me."

"Stay strong," Joshua mouthed, keeping a firm grip on Damon's arm.

"Well, just because I say it doesn't mean I mean it," Damon said. "People say things they don't mean all the time."

"Like when you said you wanted to marry me and then ran off with Katherine?" Selina asked.

"Exactly!" Damon said. "See? You should know by now that you can't trust a word I say."

Selina looked down at her clothes, dropped them on the floor and put her fingers just inside her panties with a grin.

"Unless you want to poke out your eyes, I would leave now," Damon said to Joshua. "I can handle this. Don't worry."

Joshua nodded and disappeared and Damon watched, frozen as Selina took off her underwear. "What do you say now?" She asked, twirling her hair. "Come on, it's okay. You can be honest."

He looked her over and then smirked. "All right," he said. "I'll look you over if it's so important to you. And if I see anything I haven't seen before, I'll throw a dollar at it." He put a hand on her shoulder and gave her body a very deliberate sweep. "All right," he said after he was done. "Here are your clothes. Put them on. I'm going to call Elijah to come and get you and if you aren't dressed by the time I get back, I'll dress you myself."

"You're no fun," Selina said.

Damon went to call Elijah and by the time he got back, Selina was dressed, although her expression was sour. "Elijah will be here in a little bit," he said. "Thank you for being dressed. I wouldn't want him to get the wrong idea about us."

Selina just stuck her tongue out at him and sat down on the sofa. "Why did you have to ruin this?" She asked. "I wasn't asking for much."

"You don't know _what_ you were asking for," Damon said. "And I hope you appreciate that I didn't give it to you. It would have ruined your life."

"Oh, it would _not_," Selina said. "Stop being so overdramatic."

Just then there was a knock at the door. Damon went to answer it and ushered Elijah inside. "She's right here," he said, pointing to the sofa. "You can take her, feel free. The sooner the better."

"Thank you," Elijah said. He held out his hand and Selina grudgingly took it.

"When you get home," Damon said to Elijah quietly, "I suggest you sleep with her. She asked me to and she was very ticked off when I said no."

"I'll remember that," Elijah said.

Selina finally brightened. "Are we going to have fun when we get home? I'll have to take care of Willy first, but then I'm all for it!"

* * *

><p>"I don't believe this," Damon said as he and Sam barged into Stefan and Anna's house. "I don't believe what I just did. Is this a wood table?"<p>

"Yes," Stefan said when he saw the small side table Damon was standing in front of.

"Good," Damon said. He put Sam down and began hitting his forehead on it repeatedly.

"What are you doing that for?" Stefan asked.

"I screwed up bad," Damon said.

"What did you do?" Anna asked.

"It's not what I _did_ do," Damon said, finally sparing his head more beatings and coming to sit next to Anna on the sofa. "It's what I _didn't_ do. Selina came by and she was all upset because Adrian and Helene are gonna have a kid and she didn't like the idea of being a grandma. She stripped down to naked and insisted I have sex with her."

"And you _didn't_?" Stefan asked. "Wow."

"What did you do instead?" Anna asked.

"I called Elijah and told him where she was and he came and took her home."

"Well, you did a very noble thing," Stefan said. "And smart. If you hadn't done what you did, you'd probably be dead by now." Anna paused. "While we're on the subject of men in Selina's life who have ruined her, it seems Alfred's back." She gave Stefan a significant look.

"Who's Alfred?" Damon asked.

"The last guy to ever pay for getting on Selina's bad side," Stefan said. "And probably the only vampire she's ever created."

"Selina made a _vampire_?" Damon asked. "I have to meet this guy. Who is he?"

"Louisa Forbes' son of all people," Stefan said. "She got him in his old age. When she found out, it as good as killed Louisa."

"Who's Louisa?" Anna asked. "A friend of Selina's?"

"Try archenemy," Damon said. "They fought over me."

"Why?" Anna asked. "Was it your cavalier attitude? Your hatred of any sort of commitment? Or did you just assume that alcohol was an attractive scent?"

"Wow," Damon said. "That's mean."

"I'm just curious," Anna replied. "Don't bother answering if you don't want to. But back to Alfred, Roxie's taken him under her wing. He's spent practically all of his existence in some hospital making the staff think he was crazy. It stopped him from having to actually hunt to get blood."

"How did Roxie meet him?" Stefan asked.

"Vince has been helping her with her campaign behind you and Nick's backs," Anna said. "And at one point, he thought it would be best to showcase how selfless Roxie was, so she had to go make friends with old people and there was Alfred."

"And now they're friends?" Stefan asked.

Anna nodded. "He gave her his house. But he lives there now. He and Roxie and Vince are roomies."

"Do you think Roxie would mind if we stopped by?" Damon asked. "Let's go now!"

* * *

><p>After a week, Selina's crazy behavior hadn't improved and Elijah was on his last nerve. "Why do you have to keep getting up every five minutes?" he growled early one morning when she'd woken him up for what seemed like the gazillionth time. "Why can't you just get in bed and stay there like normal people?"<p>

"Well, I'm sorry if it bothers you, but I have to take care of Willy," Selina said. "I'd be a horrible mother if I didn't. You've been upset a lot lately. What's the matter?"

"I haven't been getting any sleep because you've been messing with that damn bear," Elijah said. "I mean there _are_ other reasons, but lack of sleep is the main one."

"And the other reasons are your own fault, aren't they?" Selina said. "You were the one who decided we weren't gonna have sex anymore."

"Well, what was the point?" Elijah asked. "Your stupid limitations sucked all the fun right out of it."

"Well, it's not my fault Willy is the only one that can do all the sucking right now," Selina said. "I know you like my breasts, but you're not the only person in this house who has use for them now and Willy needs them more than you do."

"He's a bear!" Elijah said. "A stuffed toy! You can't breastfeed a stuffed toy!"

"Yes, I can!" Selina said. "He's coming along quite nicely. You would know that if you paid the least bit of attention to him!"

A muscle in Elijah's cheek began to twitch. "You want me to pay attention to him?" He said. "All right. Since I can't sleep at all, lead the way!" He cackled wildly.

"Fine, I will!" Selina said. She led him to the room where Willy lay all bundled up in Lucy's old crib. "There he is," Selina said. "Take a good look."

Elijah looked at the bear for a moment and then picked him up, holding him by one arm, locking eyes with Selina. "This is _not_ a person!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, ripping off the bear's arms, legs and head. Selina let out a shriek and fell to her knees, sobbing.

"Why did you _do_ that?" She cried. "Why did you _do_ that?" He pulled her up and led her to the shower, turning it on and shoving her head underneath the water. When he pulled her soaking head out, she said, "Stop, stop, I'm fine, I swear! But what are we going to tell Lucy about what happened to her bear?"

* * *

><p>"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Roxie asked Olivia as the two of them and Alfred approached Selina's front door. "I mean, Mom killed Alfred the first time. That might mean she doesn't want to ever see him again."<p>

"Oh, please," Olivia said. "She's such a softie now that she would want to say sorry for inconveniencing him all these years. Trust me. We're doing the right thing."

She rang the doorbell and Elijah answered it. "Roxanne?" He asked her. "What are you doing here?"

"Can we come in?" Roxie asked. "We have a surprise for Mom."

Elijah reluctantly let the three of them inside. "Sit on the sofa," he said. "I'll let Selina know you're here. Then she can decide whether she wants to see you or not."

"Cheeful guy, isn't he?" Olivia said, watching Elijah's retreating back.

Roxie scoffed. "Yeah, I know, right?"

"So he means she's actually here?" Alfred asked. "I'm going to see her again?" He reached back to smooth down what little hair he had left.

"Oh, stop preening," Roxie said. "You're past that point, believe me."

Just then, Selina came into the room. "All right, Roxie. What's going on and why couldn't you have asked your dad for help with it?"

"Nothing's wrong," Olivia said, standing up and bringing Alfred up with her. "We just thought you wouldn't mind seeing an old friend."

Selina's eyes widened. "Alfred? Oh, my god!"

"Who is that?" Elijah asked Selina.

"I knew him during my bad period," Selina said. "You know, when I worked for you know who? I turned him."

Olivia was grinning widely now. "When you said you know who just now, I'm assuming you mean Lonely Heart."

"Well, yes," Elijah nodded. "Selina was one of the many innocents whose lives were ruined by that woman."

There was a moment of silence and Olivia burst out laughing. "Innocent? Her? _Please_! I don't know what she's told you ever since the two of you got together, but she didn't just _work_ for Lonely Heart. She _was_ Lonely Heart. And believe you me, she enjoyed every minute of it."


	26. A Kind of Hush

The room was silent for several minutes and then Elijah said through his teeth, "Everybody out."

"But we just got here!" Roxie said.

"Go, Roxanne," Selina said. "That might be best."

Once they'd hustled out of the house, Selina and Elijah were left in the living room. Selina crossed her arms and faced him. "Go on," she said. "Go ahead and ask me what I know you're dying to ask."

"All right," Elijah nodded. "Tell me what happened last week. Why did you leave the house and why did I find you at Damon's of all places?"

"You know I go there sometimes to see Sam," Selina said.

"That's not why," Elijah told her. "On the phone, he said you had undressed in front of him almost entirely."

Selina nodded. "Well, I might have. But it was only because he called me 'grandma' when he saw me and that made me feel all vulnerable and unattractive. And he was there, so I thought..."

"Of course you thought!" Elijah said. He clenched his fists, but kept them at his sides. "It wasn't like I was at home waiting for you and scared to death about what was wrong with you and more than willing to help you resolve it. Oh, wait. I was! But it appears that you're still the same whore you always were." He heaved an exaggerated sigh.

Selina stood up. She was shaking with anger. "Now just a minute," she said. "I didn't sleep with him. I don't deserve any of this venom you're throwing at me, you sanctimonious, judgmental, holier than thou know it all! In a way though, I'm glad you're judging me now. That means that the halo has come off of me and I don't have to squash down any of my personality just to make you happy!" She started laughing. "This is great! I can do whatever the hell I want!"

"That's not what I meant," Elijah said.

"Well, maybe," Selina told him, smirking. "But that's how I choose to take it." She paused. "Does that upset you?"

"No," Elijah said. "It doesn't. Like you said, you can do whatever you want. But you won't be doing it and sleeping in my bedroom at the same time."

Selina scoffed. "Seriously? You're kicking me out of our _bedroom_? My god, what a crybaby! Well, fine. I can handle that. There are plenty of other rooms in this house. I'll just go find another one _far_ away from you and then we'll _both_ be happy!" She sighed. "I need to get out and get some air," she said. "Have fun here by yourself."

She stomped off, grabbed her jacket and left the house, heading for Anna's to tell her the bad news.

* * *

><p>"What do you <em>mean<em> you and Elijah are fighting?" Anna asked. "You two aren't supposed to fight! This upsets me."

"Well, it's not my fault!" Selina said. "Roxie stopped by with Olivia and Alfred of all people and then Livy went and spilled the beans about a certain part of my life I've been very careful to keep from your brother."

"Wait a minute!" Stefan said. "Alfred is still around? He was ancient when you met him. How can he not be dead?"

"Well, I sorta turned him," Selina said. "I thought it would be a good punishment for that strutting peacock to spend the rest of eternity as a geezer. But I didn't think he'd last long. It's not like I stayed around to teach him the ropes or anything."

"Oh, I remember Alfred," Stefan nodded. "You weren't actually interested in him, were you?"

Selina scoffed. "Heck no! His mother was the gold digger, remember? Not me. I always had planned to kill him. I knew Louisa was still alive in '28, and I hoped that finding out her son was a vampire would be enough of a shock to kill her."

"Enough about Alfred!" Anna said. "What about you and Elijah?"

"What about us?" Selina asked. "He knows I'm Lonely Heart now and he's being really judgmental and stupid. Well, it's not about that, really."

"Well, what else could it be about?" Anna asked.

"It _could_ be because she had a huge breakdown when she found out that Adrian and Helene are going to have a kid and she almost slept with Damon," Stefan said. "In fact, what _else_ could it be about?"

"He _told_ you?" Selina said. "Why would he _tell_ you? Is no secret safe anymore?"

"You wanted that to be a _secret_?" Stefan asked. "You went to Damon's house, you took off practically _all_ your clothes and as much as begged him to sleep with you and you thought he'd keep it a secret?"

"You _did_?" Anna asked. "Why? I think I'm disappointed in both of you now. Have you told Elijah you're sorry? You better have told him that you're sorry!"

"Well, even if I tried, he probably wouldn't want to hear about it," Selina said. "He kicked me out of our room today and told me I had to find a different room. But I don't care. Frankly, I feel much better now than I have in a long time. Probably because everything is out in the open now. I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not just because I'm scared of what Elijah will think of me. Of course, I'm not going to start killing people again; with your father after me, I really can't afford to be that stupid. But I'm going to start having more fun, anyway."

"After you tell Elijah you're sorry," Anna said.

"I _told_ you," Selina said. "He doesn't want to hear it. At least not yet. So I'll just go about my life and wait for him to come to me. That would be best. But he's so stubborn it'll probably take _ages_. But it's okay. I can wait. I think."

* * *

><p>Selina knocked on the door of Elijah's office.<p>

"Come in," he said flatly.

She opened the door and strode to his desk. "I just thought I'd let you know that I'm gonna bring Sam and Lucy over and we're gonna repaint my room. The white that's in there now is so boring. I want something with a little more personality, so that's what I'm going to do." She left without giving him a chance to respond and she and Lucy headed over to Damon's to get Sam.

"Thank you for letting me come," Lucy said.

Selina patted her knee. "You're welcome," she said. "Are you ready to help me paint?"

Lucy nodded.

When they reached Damon's house, he let them inside and entertained Lucy for a little bit while Selina went to get Sam.

"All right," she said when she made it back to the living room with Sam's hand in hers. "It's time to go, Lucy."

"So soon?" Damon asked. "Why can't you stay a while?"

"Because," Selina said, avoiding his eyes, "I want to get started painting so my walls are dry at the end of the day. I hate waiting!"

"Okay," Lucy said, her mouth drooping. She gave Damon a hug, told him goodbye, and followed her mother and Sam out to Selina's car.

* * *

><p>"Okay," Selina said. She and Lucy were in jean shorts and old t-shirts with bare feet and they wielded brushes covered with red paint. "I already put the tape on the walls, so it should be pretty easy to do. Just put red wherever you see empty wall and don't eat the paint."<p>

"I wouldn't!" Lucy said.

"Oh, I know," Selina said. "I just wanted to be sure, though."

"What about me?" Sam asked. "Do I paint too?"

"No," Selina said, picking him up. "Well, not unless you want to. I have a different job for you."

She led him over to an oilcloth covered shape in the corner and pulled the sheet off.

"Drums!" Sam said, grinning widely. Selina sat him down on a chair and handed him drumsticks. "Pound away, little man!" She said. Sam began happily banging on the drums while Selina and Lucy painted. After awhile, though, they finally heard banging on the closed bedroom door.

Selina grinned and then strode to the door and opened it, to see a very perturbed Elijah on the other side. "What in the world is going on in here?" He asked.

"I'm sorry," Selina told him. "Were we disturbing you?" She grinned sweetly at him.

"Oh, stop!" He said. "I'm trying to get work done and there's an awful racket coming from in here."

"Sam's playing," Lucy said.

Elijah looked over at Sam and the drum set. "Where did he get that?"

"I found it downstairs," Selina said. "I thought Sam could use the practice. And look how happy he is!"

Elijah's eyes narrowed. "You didn't get out the drum set because you thought Sam needed the practice! You did it because you knew it would irritate me!"

Selina shrugged. "Tomayto, tomahto."

"No, it's not!" Elijah said. "That's exactly why!" He looked around the room. "And what_ is _all this anyway? You're supposed to be feeling guilty and pondering your sins, _not_ repainting a room and having a jolly time!"

"Says who?" Selina asked. "You? Well, you'll be disappointed. I'm having a _very_ jolly time and there's nothing you can do about it!"

Elijah was breathing heavily now. "Lucy," he said to her, "There are cookies in the kitchen. You and Sam can have them if you leave your mother and me alone for a little while."

"All right!" Lucy said. She and Sam scampered out of the room.

"And just what was _that_ all about?" Selina asked

He glared at her for a moment, then put an arm around her waist and pushed her against a wall, kissing her hard. Her hair and the back of her got covered in red paint. She relaxed into it until she realized what she was doing.

"Hey, hey, hey!" She said. "You can't just yell at me and then come in here and kiss me and expect me to be nice to you."

"I don't expect you to be nice to me," he said. "I'm doing this purely out of need, not because I'm ready to forgive you."

"Oh," Selina nodded. "Well, that's rich. When _I _want to have sex, it's a problem and I'm a whore, but when _you_ want to have sex, it's okay because you're fulfilling some need. Well if that isn't the most-"

He kissed her again, then picked her up, and threw her down on the bed, removing her clothes and his pants. Then he leaned forward, aiming for her lips, but she moved her head and he wound up kissing her neck instead.

She tried to keep control of the situation, but he quickly overpowered her and she let out a shriek. As a languid feeling spread over her and she worked to catch her breath, he got out of bed and zipped his pants. "I'm going to go resume work now, while it's quiet," he said. "I might be back in a little while, though."

"You're going so soon?" She asked.

"I see no reason to linger for the moment," he said. "I'm too angry at you to cuddle." He looked over at the wall he'd pushed her against and smirked. "While I'm working, you might think about repainting that," he said.

"You're _still_ working?" Selina asked. "Is that all you _do_? Do you even know how to have fun? At all?"

"Of course!" Elijah nodded. "Of course I know how to have fun!"

"Name one fun thing you've thought of in the last six months and our honeymoon doesn't count," Selina said.

Elijah stood in silence for several minutes. Finally Selina smirked. "I _knew_ it!" She said. "I knew you had no idea how to have fun! But I won't laugh at you. That's sad enough in itself." She sat up and finished dressing just as a knock sounded on the bedroom door.

"We ate all the cookies!" Sam said. "Let us in!"

"Well, that was good timing," Selina said to Elijah. "Now, you mentioned something about needing to get back to work?"

He nodded.

"Well, go ahead then," she said, opening the door to admit Lucy and Sam inside and then gesturing for Elijah to leave. "I wouldn't want to keep you from your precious work that means so much to you."

"Well, how considerate," Elijah said. He left and went back to his office, but found he couldn't concentrate on anything at all. He didn't know what was wrong. Then, with horror, he realized that what Selina said actually _bothered _him. It was ridiculous, but it was true. Was he really as bad as she'd said? Of course not. He shook his head. Not everyone could be carefree. There had to be responsible people in the world to clean up the carefree people's messes. If _everyone_ were like Selina and Niklaus, well, the world would just erupt into pandemonium, wouldn't it? He tried to read more of the articles his father had given him, but he couldn't focus on them anymore. Every time they mentioned Lonely Heart's killings, he pictured Selina slashing and cutting and biting. It was awful. But that Olivia was a notorious liar. She had to have been telling a lie. But why would she _do_ that? What did she possibly have to gain? Finally, he put the papers down and decided that he needed to clear his head.

He got up and walked back to Selina's room. "I'm going for a drive, just in case you're curious."

"I'm not," Selina said without looking at him. "You're entitled to have your own life outside of me. You don't have to tell me every time you leave the house. You can just go."

"Well, all right, I will," Elijah said.

"Wait, where are you going?" Selina asked.

"I thought you didn't care," Elijah said.

Selina shook her head. "I don't. But you know that guy Roxie and Livy had with them? His name is Alfred and I turned him and I don't know what he's been up to for the last however many years, but he deserves some fun." She wrote something down on a slip of paper and gave it to him. "Here's the address of his house. You wouldn't mind taking an old guy to have a little fun, would you?"

"Oh, sure," Elijah said. "Why not?"

"Have a good time!" Selina called after him.

"I seriously doubt I will," Elijah muttered under his breath. He left the house and drove to Niklaus'. Maybe Niklaus would help him learn how to have fun.

* * *

><p>"Well, here you are again," Klaus said when he opened the door. "I didn't expect to see you back so soon. If you came for Lucy, Selina picked her up already."<p>

"Oh, I know that," Elijah said. "Believe me, I do. I didn't come for Lucy. I came because I need your help."

Klaus looked at him in surprise. "You need my help? Really? Why?"

"Well," Elijah said, "Selina and I had a fight today and she called me a 'sanctimonious, judgmental, holier than thou know it all'. _ And_ she said I didn't know how to have fun."

"Am I supposed to say 'I don't believe that' at this point?" Klaus asked. "Because frankly, I believe every word."

"Well, that's hurtful," Elijah said. "Anyway, I came to ask you to help improve my image, maybe help me loosen up a little, but if you're going to be critical, then I'll just-"

"Okay, okay, fine." Klaus said. "I'm sorry. I'd be glad to help you. And I have the perfect way to start: I was thinking about going out somewhere tonight. You could come with me. Want to?" A grin spread over his face.

"It depends," Elijah said apprehensively. "Where is it?"

"It's called Club Shangri-la," Klaus said. "Think about it, Elijah: dozens of lovely women, all of them not wearing a thing!"

"And you wonder why you're having trouble with maintaining a meaningful relationship," Elijah said.

"So will you come?" Klaus asked. "Or not?"

"I don't know if I should," Elijah said. "I'm married after all, and when you're married, there's really only one person you should let see you in a state of undress and that's the person you're married to. I gave Selina a lecture about it. If I went with you to a strip club, I'd look like a hypocrite."

Klaus scoffed. "I pity you. When I finally get married, the woman I marry will be the sort who will _want_ me to see other women naked! I could arrange that quite easily."

"Well, I want more than that," Elijah said. "Even though we're fighting, I'm choosing to take the high road with Selina and not do anything that will get me into trouble!"

"I thought you said you wanted me to help you have fun!" Klaus said. "I'm trying to help, but you're making it _very _difficult. If you're going to tie my hands, then you can just go back to Selina and see how much fun you have."

Elijah sighed. "Well, fine. But if she finds out what I did, she'll hold it over my head for sure!"

"So tell her the truth!" Klaus said. "It's not that difficult. Let's practice. You be yourself and I'll be Selina." He came over and sat next to Elijah on the sofa. "So," he said in a high pitched voice, "the other day that you and Nicky went out, what did you do? Did you have fun?"

"Yes," Elijah said. "We did."

"What did you do?" Klaus pressed.

"Well," Elijah said, "We went to an...event."

"What sort of an event?" Klaus asked. "A cultural event?"

Elijah nodded. "Kind of. See, Niklaus and I went to this place where..." He stalled.

"Oh, come on, Elijah," Klaus said. "It's me, Selina. You know you can tell me anything. Just let it come out!"

Elijah inhaled and put a hand on Klaus' shoulder. "All right," he said. "We said we'd be honest with each other and so I will be: the night Niklaus and I went out, we went to a strip club because you said I was boring and I thought that if I went to the strip club, I would feel more like a fun person." He breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad I was able to get that out. I feel better now."

"Is that all?" Klaus asked, still in his awful, high pitched Selina voice.

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "That's all. I was just trying to be more carefree, as per your suggestion."

Klaus began to fake tear up. "When did you stop loving me?" He asked, his voice breaking.

"I never stopped loving you," Elijah said, getting lost in the moment and completely forgetting who he was talking to.

Klaus stood up, throwing Elijah's hand off his shoulder. "Let me tell you something! I will never give you a divorce, Mister! I will _kill_ you before I let another woman have you!"

"But I don't want another woman!" Elijah said, running to put his arm around Klaus. "All I want is y-" Finally, he came back to his senses and pulled away. "What are we doing?" He asked. "This has to stop."

"You're right," Klaus said. "It was getting ridiculous.

"Do you really think she'll react that strongly?" Elijah asked.

"Well, actually, I believe I gave you the _underreaction,_" Klaus said. "Stefan came by and told me that you found out Selina's big secret. Surprised?"

"You mean the fact that she's Lonely Heart?" Elijah asked. "Olivia is a notorious liar. She probably wasn't telling the truth."

"Even so, do you really want to risk breaking the heart of a woman who might have killed all the men who did the same before you?" Klaus asked.

"Nothing bad will happen to me. She's not like that anymore," Elijah said firmly. "Now, are we going to go, or what? And by the way," he held out the slip of paper that had Alfred's address on it. "Selina requested we go to this address and pick up a man named Alfred and take him with us."

Klaus looked at the address. "Oh, fine. But you're the one who has to deal with him since you brought it up."

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the house, Roxie opened the door. "Hey, you two. What's up?"<p>

"Your mother requested we take Alfred out with us," Elijah said to Roxie. "Is he here?"

Roxie turned. "Alfred!" she called. "My uncle wants to take you out to get some air. You wanna go?"

Alfred appeared at the door quite suddenly, looking eager. "Finally, some men to go out with. If I have to spend another day at the mall, I think I'll kill myself."

Elijah looked him over. "I don't know if you can handle going where we're going."

"Oh, come on!" Alfred said. "I survived getting knifed. I'm much hardier than you think! I need to see the world outside! Take me with you! Please!"

"I'm sure it's not so bad in here," Elijah said, walking around the house. "You have a television and good books to read, not to mention who knows what else. You don't need to come with me to have fun."

"Gee," Alfred said sarcastically. "I have all that _and_ I'm sure that if I looked real hard, there might be a cookie left in the cookie jar. Ooooooh, pinch me!"

Elijah rolled his eyes and let Alfred follow him to the car.

* * *

><p>"Why did we bring him here?" Klaus asked as he watched Alfred try and negotiate the small appetizer bar. "Did you let him guilt you into it?"<p>

"He seemed like a nice man," Elijah said. "And he said he'd be able to handle it."

"What kind of a place did you bring me to?" Alfred asked when he returned to their table. "They just charged me five dollars for a Coke! Back when I was a boy, you could buy three acres of land for that much!" He shivered. "And do you feel that? It's drafty in here!"

"We _know,_ Alfred," Klaus said. "You've only mentioned that twenty or thirty times."

"I remember you!" Alfred said to him. "You're that punk Selina used to step out with."

Klaus narrowed his eyes. "Well, I don't have very pleasant memories of you, either," he said. "I'll have you know that if Selina hadn't killed you, I would have."

Alfred looked at Elijah. "And you say he's your brother? My sympathies."

Elijah tried not to laugh.

"You know, I got a brother," Alfred said. "Or I did. He's dead now, good riddance."

"We know," Klaus said. "His name was Henry, he was a doctor, and he screwed you."

"He screwed me blue!" Alfred finished, nodding in agreement.

"Could I have a word with my brother in private, Alfred?" Klaus asked. "You could have another look at that appetizer bar."

Alfred rolled his eyes. "All right."

"Why did you bring him here?" Klaus asked Elijah. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Could I say something?" Alfred asked. He eyed Klaus' hair, which had grown out a little long and said, "Why don't you get a haircut? Are you one of those hippies I read so much about? Or were you trying to look like a girl?"

"Would you get something for me from the appetizer bar?" Elijah asked him. "Please?"

"Why are you so eager to send me away?" Alfred asked. "Am I spoiling your fun?"

"Oh, no," Elijah said. "Of course not. You're delightful."

"Thank you," Alfred said to him. "I like you. You're nice." He stood up. "I think I'll go get something from the appetizer bar after all."

"And take your time," Klaus said. "If you're not back in ten minutes, we _won't_ send a search party."

"You, I hate," Alfred said to him and then walked away.

"If the show doesn't start soon," Klaus said to Elijah, "then I'm leaving. Alfred has a pretty relative I would much rather be spending my time with."

"Well, then go," Elijah said. "No one's stopping you."

But just as Klaus got up to go, the show began. When it was over, Elijah was surprised to see that Alfred was still very much with them.

"I told you I was hardy," he said. He looked Elijah over critically. "_You're_ the one who looks like he had a little too much fun."

"There's no such thing as too much fun," Klaus said. He looked at Elijah. "Did I or did I not see one of the girls slip you her number?"

Elijah grinned and nodded. "You did, see?" He pulled the number out of his pocket. "Her name was Samantha."

"A brunette with legs that go on forever," Klaus sighed. "Nice change from Selina, huh? She's a tiny thing, isn't she?" He paused. "Well, some parts of her are tiny and some parts aren't so much."

"Watch it," Elijah said. "You're not allowed to talk about her that way."

"You and she are fighting now, so what does it matter?" Klaus asked. "Don't tell me you're not gonna go straight home, wave Samantha's number in her face and brag about what a good time you had tonight."

"I might mention it in passing," Elijah said. "But that's all I'll do."

* * *

><p>"You're back, I see," Selina said when Elijah came into the living room where she was watching a movie." She sniffed. "That's an interesting scent you're wearing. What's it called? Desperation?"<p>

Elijah smirked. "No. It's closer to 'Leggy, blue-eyed pretty Samantha'."

Selina smirked. "Thats so cute that you're trying to make me jealous. Did you have a good time...wherever you were?"

Elijah nodded. "Niklaus and I went to a strip club and one of the girls gave me her number."

Selina barely looked at it. "I'm glad you and Nicky went out together. You haven't in awhile, have you? And I'm proud you're developing your own interests outside of me. it's a sign of a healthy relationship."

Elijah grinned. "Samantha was developed in _many_ ways. She taught me so much. And I taught _her_ a few things too."

Selina just sighed. "If I were feeling petty, I'd make some remark about Damon, but I won't. I know I screwed up before, and I don't want to keep going backward when I can just as easily go forward. I don't want to fight about this anymore. I'm glad you had a good time with Nicky and hopefully I'll have as much fun when Anna and I go to the mall tomorrow. Good night."

She left Elijah alone in the room. Once she was gone, his bravado wore off and feelings of guilt and shame welled up in him. What had he been thinking? That it would make him feel _better_ if he went out among other women? Well, it hadn't. Now he just felt a thousand times worse. He ripped up Samantha's number and went to get undressed for bed, even though he knew he wouldn't sleep well that night.

* * *

><p>Selina had just finished putting the new blankets on her bed when she heard a knock at the door. "Come in," she said. Lucy came in. "I saw the closet monster again, Mommy," she said. "Can I stay in here with you?"<p>

Selina threw the covers aside, picked up Lucy and placed her in bed beside her. "Of course," she said. "We'll make it like a sleepover."

"How come you're not with Uncle Elijah?" Lucy asked.

"Because he's working and needs peace and quiet," Selina said. "Now let's get you tucked in so we can both go to sleep."

She pulled the blankets over both of them and put an arm around Lucy's middle. "There. Now you won't fall out. And I won't squish you, I promise."

"All right," Lucy said. She shut her eyes and fell asleep.

A few hours later, however, something woke her up. She turned around and heard sobbing coming from beside her. She touched her mother's hair, and Selina looked up at her with swollen, red-rimmed eyes. "I'm sorry, I woke you," she said. "I'll be quieter."

Lucy looked at her mother for a moment, then squirmed out from under her mother's arm and got out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Selina called.

"To the potty!" Lucy yelled back.

"Well, do you need me to come with you?" Selina asked. "Or are you all right?"

"I'm okay!" Lucy said. But instead of going to the bathroom, she went to her uncle's room and knocked on the door.

"What's going on?" Elijah asked when he opened the door. "Lucy, why aren't you in bed?"

"I can't sleep cause Mommy's crying," Lucy said. "Can you make it better?" She took his hand and pulled him along to Selina's room. When they reached the door, Elijah turned on the light. "What's going on in here?" Elijah asked.

Selina looked up. "Did Lucy drag you in here?" She asked. "I'm sorry. She told me she was going to the bathroom."

"You _have_ been crying," Elijah said when he sat down next to her.

Selina nodded. "Maybe a little, but a lot of that's my own fault. You don't have to help me. You can go back to sleep."

"I haven't actually slept well so far tonight," he said, pulling a handkerchief out of the pocket of his shorts.

"You just keep those everywhere, don't you?" Selina asked, sniffling and wiping her eyes.

He nodded. "You never know when you might need one."

Hesitantly, Selina leaned against him and he brought his arms around her.

"Wait," Selina said, looking apologetically at Lucy. "I told Lucy she could stay in here tonight, so..."

Lucy ran out of the room and came back. "The closet monster's gone. I can stay in my bed."

"Well, that solves that then," Elijah said.

Selina yawned. "I finally feel tired," she said. "Don't you?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I do. But this doesn't change _everything_."

"Oh, I know," Selina said. "But let's not think about that. Right now, we're just two people doing what we have to to get a decent night's sleep." She shut her eyes, her breathing became even, and as Elijah ran his fingers through her dark hair, he felt himself relax too. He shut off the light and finally managed to fall asleep.


	27. Secret Sins

The next morning, Selina woke up and as she moved her head, she hit it on Elijah's chin. He grunted and his eyes opened, then he let her go and she scrambled away from him.

"Oh, sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to hit you. But I mean since we both fell asleep sitiing up, a collision was bound to happen."

Elijah nodded. "Yes, well...I think I'll just get dressed now. And I'm sure you've got a big day planned as well."

Selina nodded. "Yep. Anna and I are taking Sam to get some nice clothes. Because I can bet you all the money in the world and win that Damon hasn't bought Sam a suit yet."

"That surprises me," Elijah said. "You actually want Sam to look presentable."

Selina nodded. "Of course I do. I mean, I dress nice when the occasion calls for it. I wouldn't expect anything less of my children." She looked at the clock. "All right, it's eight-thirty. I have an hour until Anna gets here and we go and get Sam. Just enough time to shower, dress and eat."

"I'll go see to Lucy and then get ready myself," Elijah said.

By the time Selina got to the kitchen, Lucy and Elijah were already eating.

"Well, this is nice," Selina said, sitting down. She looked at Elijah. "Coffee?" She asked.

He nodded. "Please."

Selina went and got the coffee pot, bringing it to the table, but when she went to pour it, she misjudged where Elijah's coffee cup was and some of the hot coffee went in his lap.

"What did you do _that_ for?" He asked, jumping up. "Did you do that on purpose?"

"No!" Selina shook her head. "I'm sorry, it was an accident!" She went to the sink and ran some water over a dish towel, then handed it to him. "Here," she said. "Dab this on the stain. That'll stop it from soaking in too much."

"Are you crazy?" Elijah asked. "I can't get this suit wet!"

Selina sighed and sat down. "Fine," she said. "Go put on an entirely new outfit. I don't care."

Elijah frowned, but then got up and as he walked away from the table, he knocked a small pitcher of cream and it went all over Selina's blouse."

"Okay!" Selina said, standing up. "That's it! _That _you did on purpose!"

"No, I didn't," Elijah said. "It was an accident. And it's not like you don't have a million other things to change into."

"Well, fine!" Selina glared. "You change and I'll change. But you started it!"

She stomped out of the kitchen. Elijah sat down, mournfully stroking the stain on his gray pants and then looked at Selina's orange juice, which she'd left unattended. He picked up the pepper and tapped a bunch of it into Selina's glass, stirring it in good. Then he looked at Lucy. "Don't say anything," he said.

When Selina returned, Lucy and Elijah watched her as she sat down and picked up her orange juice. She took a sip and spit it all over the table. "My god," she said. "What's _in_ this?"

"Just a little pepper," Elijah said, shaking the pepper shaker. "I don't know _how_ it got in there." He grinned.

"You are such a baby!" Selina said. "What kind of a person puts pepper in another person's orange juice?"

"The kind of person who doesn't like it when people purposely spill coffee all over their nice pants that just got back from the cleaners yesterday," Elijah said.

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" Selina asked. "It really _was_ an accident."

"Whatever you say," Elijah said, taking a bite of his toast and then wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"I was going to share my waffles with you, but now I don't think you deserve any," Selina said. She went to dump the remainder of her orange juice in the sink and then got out the ingridients necessary to make Belgian waffles. When they were finally done, she brought them out to the table, put two on her plate, topped them with strawberries, and then ate with exaggerated appreciation.

"Mmmmm! This is so good! I bet you wish you had some!" She kept her eyes on him the whole time she was eating.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," he said. "It's not attractive." She frowned at him, her cheeks still bulging with waffle, then she swallowed. "You're really no fun, you know that, right?"

"Waffle!" Lucy said. Selina cut one up and then put the plate down in front of her and Lucy ate the waffle a piece at a time, watching Selina and Elijah without blinking.

For awhile, the kitchen was quiet, until the doorbell rang, causing both Selina and Elijah to start badly. "That's probably Anna," Selina said to Elijah. "You go change your suit and I'll get the door."

Elijah went to change his clothes and Selina grabbed Lucy and went to answer the door. "Are we going to go to the mall?" Selina asked Anna. "I'm ready when you are."

Anna studied her. "And how are things with you and Elijah today?"

"Good," Selina said. "Okay."

"Really?" Anna asked. "Selina, are you lying to me?"

"He put pepper in my orange juice this morning!" Selina said.

"Why would he do that?" Anna asked.

"I accidently spilled coffee in his lap, but he thought I did it on purpose and it started a whole bit thing," Selina said.

When Elijah appeared, Anna cleared her throat and took Lucy from Selina. "I'm going to drop Lucy off with Stefan and I'll have Damon come with me to help pick out suits for Sam. The two of you have more important things to work on."

"No, we don't!" Selina said. "I can come! It's okay, really!"

"You're not coming," Anna said, shaking her head. "You're staying here and working out your problems and that's final!"

She left the house and drove off with Lucy and Elijah and Selina were left staring at each other.

* * *

><p>Selina and Elijah sat in silence at the kitchen table, each one waiting for the other to say something. Finally, Selina brough her palms down hard on the table. "This is ridiculous!" She said. "Talk to me. We haven't been close since the incident and yes, I take some responsibilty for that, but what do I have to do to make things better? Scream, weep, yell, throw myself into your arms, what?"<p>

Elijah just blinked. "I wouldn't want to make you do anything you wouldn't want to," he said.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Selina asked. "That doesn't help me at all! Here I am doing the best I can to make us stop fighting because I hate it, and you're not holding up your end of the deal by telling me what I need to do! Do you _want_to be fighting forever?"

"Oh, of course not!" Elijah snapped. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Well then why won't you tell me what I need to say or do to make everything better?" Selina asked.

"Because if I _told_you, it wouldn't be sincere, would it?" Elijah asked. "You'd just recite it like an actor reading lines from a play. You wouldn't mean it. You'd be saying whatever you have to to get your way."

"I wouldn't!" Selina said. "Stop putting me in a bad light!"

"I'm just being honest," Elijah said. "What I want to hear from you is something you have to discover for yourself."

He left the room. Selina followed him and they ended up in their bedroom where Elijah began throwing clothes into suitcases.

"Wait a minute!" Selina cried. "What are you _doing_?"

"I want to hear one thing from you," he said. "I know you won't be able to say it yet, so I'm going to leave until you do. I've made arrangements with Niklaus and he'll take you in for as long as you need. Hopefully we'll see each other again." He ran a hand over her cheek.

"Wait!" Selina said. "Not only are you leaving, you're dumping me with Nicky? No! No, no, no!" She threw his clothes from the suitcase to the floor and sat down in the suitcase. "You're not leaving!"

"Why not?" Elijah asked.

"Because I need you!" Selina burst out. "I hate it when we fight! I want it to stop. Because being with you when we're fighting...it's like you're not even with me anymore. It makes me very lonely. I want you to stay. Don't ever leave me, please."

He looked at her in stunned silence for a moment. He'd known that threatening to leave would get _some_ emotional response out of her, but he hadn't expected the tears that were threatening to break free and run down her cheeks. He reached out and slowly wiped them away with his thumb.

She put her hand firmly around his wrist and pulled him to her, her head going on his shoulder as soft sobs began.

"It's all right," he said, running his fingers through her hair and muttering nonsense to sooth her. "I'm not going to leave, I promise. I was just pretending."

She looked up at him. "Why would you pretend to leave me? That's so mean!"

He nodded. "I know," he said. "And I'm very sorry. It's just that it was the only thing I could think of that would make you say what you said."

She sniffled. "What? That I love you and need you and all that stuff?"

He nodded. "I'm right about that, aren't I?"

"Well, I know I'm not a particularly emotional person," Selina said. "But neither are you, right?"

He nodded. "I suppose you could say that. But anyway, I promise I won't leave. Never ever. Do you forgive me?"

Selina nodded after a moment. "All right," she said. "I forgive you." Then she leaned forward and kissed him, pushing off his jacket, her nimble fingers unbuttoning his shirt as he lowered her to the floor, his hands going all over her. Her head turned and then she looked up at him. "Wait," she said.

"What?" He asked, looking up from kissing her neck. "What's wrong?"

"We're on top of your suits," Selina said. "Do you really want to keep going with this if we're on top of your suits?"

He put a hand on her mouth. "Remember what I said about my suit when you fell into the water in Paris and I saved you?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, remember it again and stop talking," he said.

She grinned and moved his hand off her mouth. "Kiss me again then. That'll keep me quiet. Until I start screaming that is. And you know I always do."

He smirked and kissed her. He slipped his hand under her skirt and she moaned. She undid her skirt and managed to slip it off as his hands went all over her, making her feel warm everywhere he touched. When she was warm all over, she reached out and helped him undress and then they made love to each other until a loud, obtrusive ringing sound shattered their bliss.

"What in the hell is that?" Selina asked.

"I think it's the phone," Elijah said. He was breathing hard. "Should I go answer it?"

"No, don't," Selina said, pulling him down again. "If we don't answer, they'll assume we're busy and hang up."

But the caller didn't give up easily. When the house phone stopped ringing, Selina's cell was next, the ringing just as annoying and much closer.

Groaning, Elijah eased himself off Selina and she grinned, looking him over. "You're cute when you're all disheveled like that," she said. She went to pick up her phone.

"What?" She asked. "Oh, hi. How did it go with Sam? Did he _really_ get loose from the dressing room and run around the mall in his underwear? Yeah, I _bet_ Damon thought it was hilarious. So did you actually end up getting him a suit or not? You did? Good. Oh, no, don't worry. I wouldn't ask you to do it again. You're a saint for doing it once. No, you weren't interupting anything." She watched as Elijah crawled around the bed, got on his knees in front of her and began running a hand up her leg. She giggled. "That tickles," she said. "Oh, nothing. I wasn't talking to you," she said to the person on the other end of the line. "It's just-" She burst out laughing again as Elijah, who was still on his knees, backed her up against the wall and blew on her stomach. She began to laugh so hard her whole body shook. "Sorry," she said to the person on the phone. "What did you say? Sure, we'd love to. All right, bye." She shut her phone and got down on her knees with Elijah, putting her arms around his neck. "That wasn't very nice you know. You shouldn't interrupt people when they're talking on the phone."

"I just couldn't help it," Elijah said. "You're too irresistible."

She grinned, flushing a little. "Oh, stop," she said. "We have to take a break. We have a social obligation in a little while."

"Who called?" Elijah asked.  
>"That was just Anna on the phone," Selina said. "You wouldn't happen to have at least one suit we didn't ruin, would you?"<p>

Elijah nodded. "Of course I do. Why?"

"She wants us to come to dinner with her and Stefan," Selina said. "I don't think she believes we've made up and wants to see it for herself."

"Well, I don't see why it's any of her business, but all right," Elijah said.

* * *

><p>"On time as usual," Anna said as Selina and Elijah came into the restaurant and met her and Stefan at the table.<p>

"Actually, we were here much earlier," Selina said. "About half an hour ago. But I made Elijah stay in the car until it was closer to the time we were supposed to be here."

"And I don't see why that had to be," Elijah said. "There's nothing wrong with being early for things. Most people appreciate punctuality."

Selina gave him a look. "Honey, five minutes is 'early.' You wanted us to be way early."

"Well, you have to make allowances for traffic and things," Elijah said. "You never know when something will pop up."

"And has anything ever?" Selina asked. "It's only when you're_ late _for things that inconveniences occur to make you even later."

"And since thanks to me we've always been early, nothing bad has ever happen to us," Elijah said. "See? I rest my case."

Anna looked back and forth between them. "I thought you two were getting along now, but it seems like you're still fighting."

"Oh, no," Selina said, ruffling Elijah's hair. "This is normal. We talk like this all the time."

"Okay," Anna said. She looked at them oddly for a few minutes and then the waiter came with the menus.

"Thank you," Selina said as he handed her hers. After he left, she began to look over the choices. "What to have, what to have."

"Get your elbows off the table," Elijah whispered. "And put your napkin in your lap."

"Does it look like I'm eating anything yet?" Selina asked. "When I'm actually eating something, then I'll do that, all right? I swear."

"Oh, all right," Elijah said. "Just make sure that you do."

Selina rolled her eyes.

"Are you _sure_ everything's better between you two?" Anna asked.

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "We made up, I swear."

"So you've forgiven her for _everything_?" Anna asked, looking at Elijah.

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "We had a talk and I forgave her for everything."

"Wonderful!" Stefan said. "I would have thought it would take much longer for you to forgive her for being Lonely Heart."

Elijah sighed. "Well, that was in the past," he said. "Everyone makes mistakes and we regret them. Carrying around the guilt is bad enough. I don't want to make her feel worse."

"Yeah," Anna said. "Especially since you have your own past to think about."

"What do you mean?" Selina asked, leaning across the table. "Tell me!"

Just then, Anna winced as Elijah kicked her under the table. "I hate to stop this stirring dinneer conversation, but it appears that the waiter is coming for our dinner orders. Everyone know what they want?"

* * *

><p>"Why did you hush me up at dinner?" Anna asked Elijah angrily as they left the restaurant later that night. "You're going to have to tell her the truth some time. You might as well do it now."<p>

"I _will_ tell her," Elijah said. "I'm just not ready yet."

"I'd tell her quick," Anna said. "She probably already suspects you're keeping something big from her and if you don't tell her, she'll go to great lengths to find out on her own. You know that, right? And it probably won't be as hard as you think. She had to leave a child behind when she became a vampire."

"Well, it's not the same as killing your own child," Elijah said. "I killed _all_ my children, remember? I couldn't stop myself."

"You can't just keep this from her," Anna said. "It won't make her think any less of you. We all have our problems. Selina was Lonely Heart for crying out loud!"

Elijah nodded. "I know. I know that. But some time in the future, we might think about having children of our own. What if, when she finds out about what I did, Selina gets scared I'll kill _our_ child too?"

"Oh, I don't think so," Anna said. "She puts a halo on your head like you put a halo on hers. She'd never believe you could do something so evil as kill your own children. Or she might. But seriously, I think you're being silly. She had three kids with Nick, who's a lot more unpredictable than you and she never once thought he'd kill any of them."

Elijah nodded. "You have a point."

"So just tell her," Anna said. "She won't judge you if you didn't judge her about the Lonely Heart thing."

"That's not the only thing I have to tell her," Elijah said. "I have to tell her that I was working with Father to kill her before I sent her away. Even though it might make her hate me, I have to tell her."

"Yeah, you do," Anna said. "But she'll forgive you. She'll understand. You didn't betray her at all. You _saved_ her. That's gotta count for something."

Elijah sighed and headed to his car where Selina was already in the front seat. "I should probably go," he said. "I bet she's wondering where I am."

"Good luck," Anna told him. "You can do this."

Elijah nodded and got in the car, then Anna watched as the two of them drove away.

* * *

><p>"So what was the point of that little dinner party?" Stefan asked Anna in bed later that night.<p>

"I just wanted to make sure Selina and Elijah were okay," Anna said. "I'm still not convinced they are, but whatever."

"Why is it that you feel you need to be so involved with them?" Stefan asked. "It's almost too much! Do you realize that we hardly ever do anything for ourselves? Our entire lives consist of socializing with them and watching Selina's kids. That's it! Don't you want _more_ out of our lives?"

Anna sighed. "I suppose. But-"

"But what?" Stefan asked. "We used to have so much fun! Don't tell me you're becoming a softie like Selina is."

Anna frowned. "Hey, I'm not! Don't even say that!"

"Oh, I think you are," Stefan said.

"You want me to tell you why I've been so low key lately?" Anna asked.

"Yeah," Stefan nodded. "I do. It's like, you left and then you got all soft."

"Oh, look who's talking Mister 'fall in love with a human and go on the bunny diet'!" Anna said, hitting Stefan with a pillow. "Who are you to criticize _me_ about being soft?"

"Well I had a good reason," he said. "It started when I killed my father in order to transition. It was the guilt from that that made me be as bad as I was. The more I killed, the more the bad feelings would go away. And then, after you and I parted, I met someone who taught me there was more to life, you know?"

Anna smirked and moved some of Stefan's hair out of his eyes. "You mean you met someone who brainwashed you into going against your nature. I can't leave you alone for a second, can I?"

"Why did you?" Stefan asked. "You shouldn't have."

Anna kept her eyes off his. "I did it for you," she said. "My father was after Nick and I and with your record of kills, I didn't want him to have a reason to kill you too. Father kills without mercy, you know. That's why Selina left Europe and why she's been so good ever since. I don't blame her, frankly. I just wish she wasn't _so_ cautious sometimes. Elijah's on Father's good side so I bet he could get anything she did covered up as long as she didn't kill _too_ often."

Stefan grinned. "Oh, the days when she was reckless. Remember that New Year's where you and she went streaking near that seminary and then seduced and killed the head priest there?"

Anna nodded. "_And_ we seduced all the novice priests." She giggled. "We were _bad_ little girls."

Stefan suddenly sobered. "Did _you_ do anything bad when you first became a vampire?" He asked her. "Anything you're not proud of?"

"It was harder for me," Anna said. "Father watched me like a hawk. I didn't have much time to do anything _too_ terrible. Except one night I went into the woods and stumbled on a group of men holding a sacrificial ritual. They wanted favors from some of the dark spirits we believed in once and when they saw me, they thought I would make a better offering than the animals they'd slaughtered. They picked me up and were going to bury me alive when I killed two of them. I got away, but the next morning, the neighboring village was in an uproar over the boys' deaths. Father scolded me for being so foolish as to put our family in danger like I did, but at the time I couldn't help myself. The whole process was so new to me that I didn't know how to handle it.

"So we left town and Father dropped me off in a nearby village. Told me that since I was so eager to kill, I could do it, but I wouldn't be a danger to the rest of them. He ordered the rest of the family leave me behind. It was years and years before Nick finally came back for me. That's when the two of us started staying together; he promised me he would never leave me again and apologized for not sticking up for me earlier."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Stefan said.

"Oh, it's all right," Anna said. "In his way, Father was right. We had to be careful, especially in the early days. But I haven't been. I guess it was because I've always been curious about whether or not he'd kill me if he _did_ catch me."

* * *

><p>"It shouldn't be this hard to catch her!" Mikael growled. "We've been reading about it and following her for weeks! <em>Where is she?<em>"

"If you ask me," Mary Anne said, "you haven't really done much of anything."

"And I suppose _you_ have?" Aleksandr asked. "You left Niklaus' after only a few days. What could you possibly know that's helpful?"

"I can't tell you any of my secrets, but what I _will_ say is that I don't think we'll accomplish anything by just sitting here. Why can't we get out and walk around?" She pointed out the window. Lonely Heart is out _there_, you know. Not here."

"Perhaps you're right," Mikael said. "Tomorrow, Aleksandr and I will go and look around."

"Well, what about _me_?" asked Mary Anne, looking perturbed. "You _have_ to let me come! This was my idea."

"I don't think it would be wise," Aleksandr said. "She doesn't like you. And she won't just stand there while you kill her. It might be best for me to go. She still at least tries to be civil with me."

Mary Anne shrugged. "Fine," she said. "You two be big strong men. I'm just a little girl. What difference can I possibly make?"

"Good girl," Mikael said. "Now you just go back to Niklaus' and see if you can find anything useful. And don't leave this time!"

"It wasn't my fault," Mary Anne grumbled. "That stupid airhead daughter of his is a pain in the ass!"

"Daughter?" Mikael asked. "Niklaus has a _daughter_?"

"Yes," Mary Anne nodded. "A complete moron named Roxie. I wish I could kill her. But for some reason Klaus is attached to her, and it wouldn't be wise to alienate him, not at this point."

"So you'll go back?" Mikael said. "You'll go back and talk to him?"

Mary Anne rolled her eyes. "Oh, all right," she said. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt me too much."

She left the house and headed back to Klaus', but not before sneaking out one of those fancy daggers that Mikael kept underneath his bed. If Klaus didn't voluntarily tell her about Sera, she'd make him.

* * *

><p>"Where have you been?" He asked. "I've been worried about you!"<p>

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mary Anne said. "I just had to visit a friend, that's all. But I won't do it again, I promise."

"Oh, you can visit people," Klaus told her. "I would just feel better if you told me first." He led her to her room and tucked her in. "Good night," he said. "With Roxie gone at her apartment, you should have a pleasant enough night."

Mary Anne slept fitfully and the didn't wake up until almost noon. She got out of bed, dressed and went to the kitchen. "Good morning," Klaus said.

Mary Anne rubbed her eyes. "Good morning, even though it's not, really." She saw that he was sitting next to a young woman who seemed vaguely familar to her. It wasn't Sera, but it was close.

"You remember my sister Anna," Klaus said. "Anna, remember Mary Anne?"

"Oh, yes," Anna said. "How are you?"

"I was able to get out of bed today, so I consider that a victory," Mary Anne said.

Klaus looked at the clock. "I had no idea it was almost noon," he said. "I have to run out and get a few things. Will the two of you be all right here by yourselves?"

"Yes," said Anna and Mary Anne at once. "We'll be fine."

Klaus nodded. "All right."

Once he was gone, Mary Anne advanced on Anna. "Where is she?" She asked. "You know where she is. Tell me!" She brandished the white oak dagger. "Or this goes right in your heart!"

Anna's eyes widened. "Are you insane? What is it that you want?"

"I want to know where Lonely Heart is!" Mary Anne said. "You were her friend. You must know."

"I'm still her friend!" Anna said. "And I'm not going to tell you a thing, so you can put that dagger away."

"I think not!" Mary Anne said. "She was evil then and she's evil now! She killed those people on the cruise ship and I bet she won't hesitate to kill more."

Anna shook her head. "You're wrong about her," she said. "She may have been bad back then. But she's changed. She has a family now. She doesn't deserve to die at your hands."

"Oh, don't make me ill," Mary Anne said. "If anyone deserves to have her blood on their hands it's me. After all I suffered at hers. And by the way, your father sent me. I'm sure if I killled you, he wouldn't mind."

"You can't kill me," Anna said. "You're young and weak."

"That's not my fault!" Mary Anne said. They exchanged punches and kicks until Mary Anne went flying into the wall. Her eyes closed and she ceased to move. Anna got down to check on her, and as she examined the little girl for signs of life, she felt a pain in her middle. She looked down as her body stiffened. The dagger had entered just between her ribs. She fell hard on the floor, unable to move. After Mary Anne was sure Anna was immobilized, she dragged her down into the cellar and shut her in a trunk before leaving the house.


	28. Starting All Over Again

When Mary Anne left the house, she ran down the street and into town looking for Klaus. On the way, she made large gashes in her skin with a knife and summoned tears, so that when she saw him outside of the grocery store, he would have no choice but to believe the story she told.

"Oh, my god," he said when he looked her over. "You're hurt. What's happened to you?"

"A man came to the house," she sobbed. "He was looking for Sera. He asked me if I knew where she was and I told him no, but he didn't believe me and so he hurt me until I talked." She sniffled.

"And what about my sister?" Klaus asked. "Is she all right? Where is she?"

"When the man saw her, I thought he would hurt her too, but he didn't. He just had this sad look and told her to leave and never come back. That's what she did. She's gone now and I don't know where."

"You have to tell me more about this man," Klaus said. "How old was he? Was he a vampire? What did he look like?"

"Anna called him 'Daddy,' Mary Anne said.

"Oh, god," Klaus said. "So Mikael came back and he was asking questions about Selina. This isn't good. I have to tell her."

"Why?" Mary Anne asked. "Think of all the people she hurt. If you let her get away, she'll only hurt more."

Klaus shook his head. "She's not like that anymore. She's changed, made good. I know that might be hard for you to believe, but it's true." He gave her a look. "What did you tell him about Sera?"

Mary Anne sighed. "I didn't tell him anything. That was a lie. Because I don't have anything to tell. That's why I've been with you. I hoped you'd be able to tell me something about her. Can you?"

Klaus gave her a look and then took her into his car and they began driving back toward his house. "Why do you need me to tell you things about her? I hope you're not planning to kill her. Are you?"

Mary Anne shook her head. "I would love to, but think about it. She's much too old to be conquered by the likes of me. Maybe if I were older and stronger, I'd have a fighting chance, but as of right now, I've got nothing. Just like old times."

"Good," Klaus said. "And I hope things stay that way. I wouldn't want to have to do anything to you. Because unlike old times, if I have to pick between her and you, I'll pick her."

* * *

><p>"Are you ready for this?" Vince asked Roxie two days later as they stood behind the curtain in the auditorium waiting for the debate to begin.<p>

Roxie sighed. "I guess so. But I'm not nervous. I know I've got this whole thing in the bag."

Vince grinned. "That's because you trusted me and showed everyone at school a whole new side of yourself, a giving side. You learned that you can get ahead without using any sort of powers. Doesn't that feel good to you? At all?"

Roxie nodded. "Maybe a little. And I got myself a house with a bowling alley in the process, so it's not like I came away with nothing tangible for my efforts."

Just then, a girl approached them, Roxie's opponent in the debate, Franny Myer. She was wearing her cheerleader uniform because she had a football game later that day. "Good luck," she said, her voice saccharine. "May the best girl win."

"Yeah," Roxie said. "Good luck to you too, Franny." As Franny sauntered away, Roxie muttered under her breath, "good luck to you, you phony, lying bitch!"

"Good for you for saying that when she was _out_ of earshot," Vince said. "It's a real improvement."

But before Roxie could respond, the vice principal came up to them. "Good luck today," he said. "You and Franny both."

"Thank you, sir," Roxie said. He nodded and went to the stage, clearing his throat. "Good afternoon everyone. I'd like to welcome you to today's debate. Here you will have one last chance to hear what the prospective candidates for your class president have to say and ask them questions about their plans and platforms. So without further ado, let me introduce to you your candidates: Franny Myer and Roxie Mikaelson!"

The full auditorium applauded as Franny and Roxie came on stage and took their places at the podiums.

"Who would like to get this started?" the vice principal asked. "Who wants the first question?"

"I'll start," Franny said. "But Mr. Roberts, I don't need to have a question. I have a statement already prepared."

"All right," Mr. Roberts said. "Dazzle us with what you intend to do to help your fellow students."

"I will instead tell you why _she_ wouldn't!" Franny spat out, pointing at Roxie. "She's a _fake!_ She doesn't care about any of you! All that stuff she did, that saving Principal Maxwell's son from his peanut allergy and making friends with the old people, that was just a ploy to get votes! She doesn't mean any of it! If she gets to be class president, you all are going to rue the day!"

Roxie cleared her throat. "If I may continue on this interesting subject you've brought up, especially concerning Toby's peanut allergy, wasn't it _you_ who made the brownies that caused him to fall ill, despite the fact that you _know_ Toby is allergic?"

The auditorium broke out in whispers.

"Of course I know Toby is allergic to peanuts!" Franny burst out. "I've made brownies for him before! This isn't the first time!"

"Uh-huh," Roxie nodded. "But just before the bake sale, Principal Roberts dealt you a crushing blow, didn't he, Franny? Did he or did he not tell you that he was cutting the funding for the homecoming dance because there were problems with the school's fund raising efforts?"

Franny nodded. "That's true, he did."

"Were you sore about that?" Someone called out.

"I can't deny it was a blow, but I definitely wouldn't put Toby's life at risk just because I didn't get my way!" Franny said. "What kind of a person do you take me for?"

Another boy stood up. "The sort of person who just grinds the little people under her heel," he said. His voice was hoarse and he had to use a microphone to be heard clearly. "Or do you not remember when you kicked the show choir out of our rehearsal space just so you could hold your cheerleading rehearsals there?"

"That room had the best acoustics!" Franny burst out. "If we can't make our voices loud and strong enough to be heard around the stadium, how are we supposed to cheer our beloved sports teams to victory? Go sharks!" She grinned.

"Unlike my opponent," Roxie said, "I believe that there should be more to school than just watching a bunch of boys chase after balls while women cheer them on. And so much more to life. Things like art and theatre and music are the most wonderful things on earth to me, so if I'm elected your class president, I will make sure not only that the show choir gets back their rehearsal space, but that every person who feels they have some sort of talent they'd like to share gets a chance to. Because I believe everyone alive has a gift and that it's no good if you just keep it to yourself. But with attention only given to sports, we'll never find out what great things the rest of our student body has to offer.

"I will also make sure that your voices are heard. If you have a question, just feel free to ask me and I swear to you that I _will_ listen to you. Because I am just one person. I alone cannot know all of the problems that need to be taken care of in this place. But if we work together, we can make this the best damn school it can be!"

Just then, the entire school rose up, cheering. This went on for several minutes before the vice principal was able to calm them down. Then he looked at Franny, who was wide-eyed. "Do you have anything to say in response to what Roxie said?" He asked her.

The room was silent before Franny finally burst out, "She's a vampire! She wants to bite us all and drink our blood! She's already done it to the football team! They told me!"

"Wow," Roxie said after a moment of awkward silence. "Franny, maybe you should go to the nurse and lie down. Perhaps the stress of campaigning has gotten to you."

"Oh, no!" Franny said. She laughed crazily. "You are a vampire. Admit it!" She advanced toward Roxie, pulled out a knife, and stuck it in her middle. Roxie gasped and fell to the floor, eyes closed.

"Oh, my god," Franny said when Roxie didn't get up. "Oh, my god! I really thought-"

Vince came running onto the stage and kneeled next to Roxie, gently pressing against her stomach to stop the blood flow.

"Is she going to die?" Mr. Roberts asked. "Should I call a doctor?"

"No," Vince said. "Call the police first."

Mr. Roberts nodded and went to tell the janitor to call the police. They came a few minutes later, handcuffed wildly laughing Franny Myer and took her away, while she still muttered, "She's a vampire, she's a vampire..."

"It's such a shame," Mr. Roberts said to Vince. "I always thought Franny had such promise. You never know, do you? At least she'll get good care where she's going. Jail wouldn't do her any good. She's clearly lost her mind."

Vince nodded. "It appears so. If you'll excuse me, the paramedics seem ready to take Roxie away. I think I'll ride to the hospital with them."

Mr. Roberts nodded and Vince headed into the ambulance just as Roxie sat up. "Is it over now?"

"Yeah," Vince nodded. "The police took Franny away. They're going to institutionalize her. I guess this means you win the presidence automatically, doesn't it?"

Roxie nodded. "I guess so." She held out her hand and Vince helped her out of the ambulance and sent it away. "I wonder how I should celebrate?"

"Well, first thing's first, Madame President. Go tell your dad," Vince said. "He'll be happy to hear you won. And amused by the circumstances, I have no doubt."

"All right," Roxie nodded. "That's just what I'll do."

* * *

><p>"Dad!" Roxie called when she got to his house. "Dad, it's Roxie! Are you here?" He didn't answer, but someone else did.<p>

"Stop yelling," Mary Anne said. "He's on the phone. What do you want?"

Roxie frowned. "You can't talk to me like that! Where's my dad? I came by to tell him something."

"He's otherwise occupied at the moment," Mary Anne said. "Talking to your uncle on the phone. Your aunt seems to have disappeared. Apparently, no one's seen her for two whole days."

Roxie narrowed her eyes. "You sound like you know something about it. Do you?"

"Well, I was the last person to see her, but I didn't have anything to do with her being gone if that's what you're asking," Mary Anne said.

Roxie growled, grabbing Mary Anne by the throat and shoving her hard against the wall. "Bullshit," she breathed. "I know you're lying. I know that you know exactly what happened to Aunt Anna and either you tell me what that is, or I rip off your head and pull out all your guts. Take your pick."

Mary Anne just grinned. "Fine. Go ahead and rip off my head and pull out my guts. But that won't help you know what you want to know."

"You little _bitch_!" Roxie cried. She whammed Mary Anne's head against the wall until blood matted in the girl's dark hair. The noise brought Klaus to them.

"What is going _on_ in here?" He barked. "I can hardly hear myself think!"

"She knows what happened to Aunt Anna," Roxie said, letting Mary Anne crumple to the floor. "She knows what happened to Aunt Anna, so what's the best way to make her talk?"

Klaus looked at Mary Anne's body and then back at Roxie. "What brings you here?" He asked.

"Well, originally I came to tell you that I won the school election," Roxie said. "I mean, it was pretty easy. When it looked like she was going to lose, Franny thought it would be a good idea to tell the whole school I was a vampire. Then she stabbed me. When I didn't get up, everyone began thinking she was crazy and then the police came, handcuffed her and now she's going to be spending many years in a rest home where she can be brought back to her senses." Roxie shrugged. "Oh, well; a victory's a victory." She paused. "So who all knows what happened to Aunt Anna?"

Klaus sighed. "Just me. Stefan called this morning and said he hadn't heard a thing from her for two days. And Mary Anne told me that Mikael showed up asking questions about your mother, and-"

"Do you want me to go tell Mom and Uncle Elijah?" Roxie asked quietly. "So they can leave and find a safer place to live?"

"Would you?" Klaus nodded. "Thank you. I think we _all_ need a safter place to live now."

"You want to leave too?" Roxie asked.

Klaus nodded. "Eventually. But not until I find my sister."

* * *

><p>"Niklaus, what's happened?" Elijah asked when he opened the front door and saw Stefan and Klaus on the other side.<p>

"Anna's missing," Stefan said. "She left two days ago and I haven't seen her since."

Elijah's eyes widened. "What? Are you lying?"

Stefan shook his head. "No, why would I lie? Why would I make something like that up?"

"Well, where have you looked?" Elijah asked. "Anywhere? Do you have any leads at all?"

Klaus shook his head. "Not exactly."

"I'll come with you," Elijah said. "Clearly that's the only way anything will get done!" He grabbed his coat and prepared to follow them out the door when Klaus said, "No, you can't come with us. Because there's something else you should know. In fact, it's the whole reason why we came over here."

"What?" Elijah asked.

"Mary Anne told me that Mikael came to the house looking for Selina the day Anna disappeared," Klaus said. "He sent Anna on her way and when Mary Anne wouldn't give him any information on Selina's wereabouts, he tortured her and then left her bleeding on my kitchen floor. Of course she wasn't really badly hurt; she was still able to leave the house afterward and come and find me, but she was bleeding quite a bit."

"So Father's looking for Selina," Elijah said. "In that case, it might be best if I find a place for Lucy and Selina to stay and let the two of you search for Anna. Selina is strong, but she wouldn't last long on her own if Father came for her. But will you let me know when you find anything? Please?"

Stefan nodded. "Of course."

"What's going on?" Selina asked, leading Lucy along behind her. "Why is everything crowding in the doorway? We have a living room and chairs. Wouldn't that be more comfortable?"

"They won't be here for long, Selina," Elijah said. "They just came to tell us that Anna's gone missing and Father's looking for you again."

"He _is?_" Selina's jaw dropped. "But why? I haven't done anything bad!"

"Perhaps it was the killing of the couple on the boat that gave you away," Stefan said. "That was a bit too close to your usual M.O., wasn't it?"

Selina sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Looking back, I probably didn't do the wisest thing when I ended that couple's life. And now I'm paying for it big time."

Lucy dropped her hand from Selina's and went to hug her father. "Perhaps," Klaus said. "But there's a very simple solution: you just need to move to a new place. I'm sure there are several perfectly lovely empty but fully furnished houses around here. Or maybe the farther away you go the better."

Selina nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's the only way. But what about Anna?"

"We're going to find her," Klaus said. "Stefan and I. But we'll keep you updated on our progress, I promise."

Selina sighed. "Well, all right," she said. "I suppose if it's the only way for all of us to stay safe, we'll have to move."

* * *

><p>"Now remind me why you're doing this again?" Damon asked.<p>

Klaus said Mikael came to his house the other day, asking for me, which means he's close by," Selina said. "And based on the fact that he still thinks of me as Lonely Heart, even though I haven't been that vengeful in over a century, if he gets his hands on me, I'm worse than dead, so after a long talk, Elijah and I decided that the best thing to do would be to move somewhere else, away from here." She looked down at Sam who was hugging her tightly.

"Now believe me, I don't want to, but it's what's best." She ran her fingers through Sam's hair. "Better he have a mother who's absent for a few years than a mother who's dead." She looked up at him. "Unless you'd be willing to let me take him, just for a little while."

Damon shook his head. "Sorry, but I don't know if I'm comfortable with that. A guy is trying to kill you. What if he catches up to you again and decides to use Sam as bait to lure you out? No, I'm sorry, but I would just feel better if he stayed here with me." He looked over at Lucy who was eating a cookie and watching them with interest. "Although if you were worried about Lucy as well, I wouldn't mind taking the both of them. It's something that Mikael would never suspect."

Selina sighed. "A good thought, really. But I don't think Elijah would allow it. He'd miss her too much. So the best thing to do is stay with the status quo. I promise I'll call every night, though."

She kissed Sam on the forehead and hugged him hard. "Goodbye, Sammy. Mommy loves you very much and I know we'll see each other again some day soon, I promise we will. When she was finally able to let him go and put him in Damon's lap, she held her hand out to Lucy. "We have to go now, honey."

"We go?" Lucy asked. "No!" She grabbed the back of Damon's chair and refused to let go. When Selina grabbed hold of her feet and tugged, she only grabbed tighter.

"Lucy, you have to go be with your mommy," Damon said. "We'll see each other again, I promise."

"Yeah," Selina said. "He'll call you just like I'm gonna call Sam. If you don't come with me, you could get hurt. Do you want to get hurt?"

Lucy pouted. "No."

"All right," Selina said. "Then come out to the car with me. I think I just heard Uncle Elijah pull up."

"Take care of yourself," Damon said. Selina nodded and she and Lucy left the house. Sam and Damon watched them go from out the window, and that was the last they saw of them for four years.

* * *

><p>"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" Selina said, coming into Lucy's room and opening her curtains to let the sun shine in. "It's your first day of kindergarten and you want to start things out the right way." She looked down and saw to her surprise that Lucy's bed was already empty. "Lucy?" She called. "Where'd you go?"<p>

"I'm in the potty," Lucy said. "Brushing my teef." She poked her head out. "Good morning, Mommy."

"Good morning," Selina said, surprised. "Well, keep up the good work. Do you want me to lay out some clothes for you?"

Lucy nodded. "My purple dress, please."

Selina went into Lucy's closet and put her purple dress on the bed, along with shoes and socks. "There you go. See you downstairs in a few minutes."

"All right," Lucy said.

Selina went downstairs and found that Elijah was waiting for her at the bottom looking smug. "So, that didn't take very long at all," he said. "She was already up, wasn't she? I told you, not everyone is as difficult in the morning as you are."

"Yes," Selina said, looking disappointed. " She was up. And I had a whole inspirational speech ready and everything in case she wasn't."

"Oh, yes?" Elijah asked, following her to the kitchen table. "What sort of speech?"

" Basically the same one you give _me_ when I don't want to get out of bed in the morning," Selina said. "Although that's mainly because of you."

Elijah grinned. "Guilty as charged."

When Lucy arrived downstairs, they ate breakfast and then Selina and Lucy went out to the car to go and pick up Sam.

"Ready for kindergarten?" Selina asked him. He just shrugged and went to sit beside Lucy. Sighing, Selina drove away and when they reached school, Lucy let Selina take her to her teacher, but Sam darted away before she even had a chance to grab his hand.

* * *

><p>When Selina got back home, she was surprised to see a car in the driveway that wasn't usually there: Adrian's white truck. She parked in the garage and ran inside. "Well, this is a surprise," she said when she saw Adrian and his daughter Lenora sitting on the sofa. She had blonde hair and Helene's dark eyes. "What brings the two of you here?"<p>

"Lucy and Sam's first day of kindergarten," Adrian said. "I just wanted to make sure you were still in one piece."

Selina nodded. "Yeah, I'm all right." She sat down next to him and Lenora reached for her.

"Could I watch her today?" Selina asked him. "It would be nice to have something to do with myself all day."

"All right," Adrian nodded. "But just be careful. She's beginning to be all magical. I've only just recently recovered from the latest of several incidents."

"What happened?" Selina asked.

Lenora smiled. "Daddy was a birdy!"

Selina tried not to laugh. "She turned you into a _bird_?"

Adrian nodded. "Yeah, one of those talking ones. I couldn't hold a civilized conversation for _days, _even after I was back in human form. I just kept repeating anything people said to me." He shuddered.

Selina looked down at the little girl who had just referred to Adrian as 'Daddy'. That was strange to hear, but she was almost used to it now. "So how's Helene?"

Adrian nodded. "She's all right. I'm glad she's able to do magic right now. And that she decided to make Lenora's werewolf side dormant. We had to pick one of the three to supress. I don't think I could last if Lenora was everything at once."

"Well, she seems all right to me," Selina said. "You know, Lucy wants to see her again. Says she has a present for her."

"I'm so glad the two of them get along so well," Adrian said. "To tell you the truth, I was nervous about that."

"You thought it would be Roxie vs. Lucy part two?" Selina asked.

"Well, no," Adrian said, "Nothing that bad. But a little jealousy is natural, you know? Lucky for me, Lucy likes her, Rusty likes her, so far, we've had no problems." He stood up. "We'll I'll leave you two to your fun time and be on my way."

"Bye-bye!" Lenora said.

"Bye, Adrian!" Selina said. He saluted them and left. Then, Selina turned to Lenora. "So, what are we going to do today?"

* * *

><p>"All right," Damon said to Lucy. "What's the matter with you? Your teacher says you caused lots of trouble. That's not like you." He'd gotten the call to come pick her up when Selina hadn't answered the phone. He was Lucy's other phone contact besides Selina.<p>

Lucy didn't meet Damon's eyes. "I hate kindergarten," she said. "I want to quit."

"You can't quit kindergarten," Damon said.

"Why not?" Lucy asked. "It's boring! The only books they have there say stuff like 'This is a dog. The dog eats bones. He likes playing with a ball'." She rolled her eyes. "It might be okay for people like Sam, but I need _more_!"

Damon shut his eyes. "I'm the last person who should be telling you this, but you can't quit something just because you don't like it."

"You did," Lucy said. "You quit the army."

"Me quitting the army is different than you quitting kindergarten," Damon said. "I was forced into the army by my father and I left because I didn't want to leave your mother alone. The army was optional. School isn't, all right? After they let you come back to school again, you have to promise me that you'll work your hardest even though you don't like it, all right? I mean, you don't want Sam to do better in school than you just because you're stubborn, do you?"

"No!" Lucy said, looking horrified. "I'll be better, I promise!"

* * *

><p>When Selina came to visit Sam the following weekend, he took one look at her, scowled and went to sit at the kitchen table.<p>

"Sammy, are you all right?" Selina asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't want to talk to you," he said. "I don't like you very much."

She sat down next to him. "I know I haven't talked to you all that much the last few years, but I was in trouble. I couldn't come here and see you. It would have been dangerous for me."

"But Lucy got to see you," he said. "Lucy _always_gets to see you." Now he looked at her. "How come she sees you more than me? Do you love her more?"

Selina shook her head. "Of course not!"

He stood up. "Yes, you do! You like her 'cause she's faster and stronger and smarter than me. I'm just a loser! Even Daddy likes her better!" Lip trembling, he ran to his room. Selina ran after him.

"Sammy, stop! I do _not_love Lucy more than you. I love you both the same. I can't explain to you why you live with your daddy instead of with me because it's complicated, but it's definitely not because I love Lucy more."

"What's going on?" Damon asked. "What's all the shouting about?"

Selina sighed. "Sam thinks that the reason why he didn't grow up with me is because I didn't love him."

"Oh, that's not true," Damon said to Sam. "When you were a baby, she _wanted_ you to come and live with her, but I decided that I wanted you to live with me instead because otherwise I would be lonely. Don't blame your mother, blame me."

"You made me not be with Mommy?" Sam asked.

Damon nodded. "Yes."

Sam's lip trembled. "I hate both of you!" He said and ran off. Damon got up to follow him, but Selina put a restraining hand on his arm. "Let him go," she said. "He's just upset. He needs to calm down. Then he'll talk to us."

But when he didn't come back after an hour and a half, Selina gave up and went home.

* * *

><p>Elijah came home and found Selina on the sofa watching television and eating a carton of ice cream that was almost empty. "Have you eaten that all in one sitting?" He asked.<p>

She nodded. "Yeah, but I've had a shitty day, so I'm entitled."

He went to sit next to her, looking down into the carton. "How is that supposed to help, if you don't mind my asking?"

"It's yummy," she said. "Do I need another reason to eat ice cream?"

He looked at the carton she held and went into the kitchen where he found three more empty containers in the trash. "My god," he said. "Just what happened to you today?"

She put the ice cream down on an end table and sighed. Elijah cleared his throat and she rolled her eyes and grabbed a coaster to stick under the carton. "I went and saw Sam today," she said. "For the first time since we left. And apparently, he's decided he doesn't like me anymore. He thinks that because the living arrangements just happen to give Lucy more time with me, I like her better, but I don't. What should I do? Should I push or just leave him alone until he's ready to talk to me? What would you do?"

"Well, I wouldn't give up on him," Elijah said. "If what he wants most is attention from you, then pulling away to give him space will just make things worse. Try again in a couple of days. Maybe he'll have calmed down by then."

Selina ran her hand over his leg and stood up. "I'm tired," she said. "I think I'll take a bath and then go to sleep. I don't see what more I can do."

Elijah nodded. "All right. If you need help with anything, just let me know."

When he finally went upstairs, he found her in her pajamas with the covers up to her chin. She was staring blankly at a wall across from the bed. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I was just thinking how quiet the house is gonna be now with Lucy gone at school all day," she said. "It's gonna be so weird. I'm gonna need some way to occupy my time."

"Well, you could always visit with your friends, or get a hobby, or-"

"That's not what I meant," Selina said. "I meant to say that since Lucy is at school all day now, and I'm home by myself, maybe it's time to think about having a baby. What do you think about that?" She asked, looking at him appealingly.


	29. More to Love

He stared at her in shock for a moment, and then sat heavily on the bed.

"What's the matter?" She asked. "Are you okay? Does that mean the answer's no?"

He sighed. "Of course it doesn't mean the answer's no. I just wasn't expecting it so quickly."

Selina grinned and put a hand on his shoulder. "What quickly? We've been married four years already. I'd say it's just the right time."

Elijah turned to her, running his fingers through her hair. "Well, I'm happy and of course the answer is yes, but tell me one thing first: you didn't just come up with this because of the problems with Sam, did you? I mean, it has to be hard to have a child reject you like that. But having another child won't fill the void. Making things up with Sam is the best thing to do."

"It's not because of Sam," Selina said. "I wasn't even thinking that way."

"Not even just a little?" Elijah asked.

Selina shook her head. "Not even just a little. I'm gonna go back tomorrow and try again with him. Try to explain myself. And if that doesn't work, I'll just have to keep trying, won't I?"

His fingers trailed out of her hair as she put her arms around him and he leaned forward to kiss her. Their lips met and she moaned as he kissed down her neck and lowered her onto the bed, pulling off her pajama top. He kissed her stomach and she squeaked as his tongue swirled around her belly button. Her whole body ached suddenly and she let out her breath. "Keep going," she whispered. "Keep going." He eased off her pajama bottoms, his fingers playing lightly over the skin just below her naval and moving downward. She moaned again. She reached down and wiggled out of her panties and then she was lying naked in front of him. He moved his hand and just knelt beside her on the bed, smirking, drinking in every inch of her. Normally, it would make her angry, but now, it just made her want him more.

"Well, what are you waiting for!" She barked. "I'm not just gonna lie here all day!" She managed to sit up and just because she felt like it, she made to slap him, but he grabbed her wrist before her hand could make contact with his face.

"I don't think so," he said. He removed his shirt and pulled her to him so that her arms were around his neck. Then he unzipped his pants, pushed her back on the bed and pushed into her again and again and again.

After awhile, Selina took a deep breath. "Wow, you sure know how to help a woman work off four cartons of ice cream, don't you?"

He grinned and ran his hand over her stomach. "I do what I can. Were you serious about the two of us having a child? Are you sure you're ready?"

"Well, yeah," Selina said in surprise. "But if you aren't, I'd be willing to wait."

He shook his head. "That's sweet, but not necessary. After all, I've had years and years of practice with Lucy and the others, haven't I? I don't see how I could be more ready if I tried."

Selina hugged him. "Thanks for being so good about this," she said. "I know I kind of sprung it on you and..."

Elijah put a finger over her lips. "Don't say another word about it," he said. "You're talking like our having a child is some chore that I'm only grudgingly accepting, but it's not true. I really _do_ want to have a child. I'm ready. I've waited long enough."

"All right," Selina said. She looked around the room. "So do you want to take a break for now or keep going?"

"I suppose we could take a break," she said. "Maybe get some sleep. It's two a.m., you know, and _my_ day to take Lucy and Sam to school."

She lay down to face him. "I'm not looking forward to the car ride tomorrow. Not that I fear awkward silence because once you get Lucy talking, it's hard to get her to stop. The hard thing will be not pushing Sam. Because you're right when you say that I just need to give it time, you know. But the problem is, I'm not a patient person. I like instant gratification."

Elijah grinned. "Yes, you certainly do."

* * *

><p>The next day, the car ride to school was as difficult as Selina had predicted. Sam wouldn't say a word, so she engaged Lucy in conversation instead. Her daughter was not only very loquacious, but also liked to use big words, so that Selina couldn't even follow her half the time. She finally just stopped trying to respond and let Lucy talk, the little girl's words drifting over her. When they reached the school, she let Lucy and Sam out of the car, and Lucy scampered away, but before Sam could leave, she held her arms out. "I know you're mad at me," she said. "You don't have to talk to me before you're ready, but can I at least have a hug?"<p>

Sam looked at her for a moment, then hesitantly put his arms around her. The hug lasted longer than Selina expected it to, and when he'd had enough, Sam gave her a curt nod and went into the building. Selina looked after him for a moment, then shook her head, got in her car, and drove home.

When she got back, she found a note from Elijah on the door, saying he'd gone out. She wondered where. Probably the same place he usually went when he disappeared during the day. She wondered what he did there. Someone had to know. Maybe Alistair. He and Elijah talked sometimes.

She picked up the phone and called.

* * *

><p>"So you and Selina are seriously considering having a child?" Alistair asked Elijah. "Who's idea was this?"<p>

"It was hers," Elijah said. "But I'm looking forward to it."

"Have you told anyone else yet?" Alistair asked.

Elijah shook his head. "No, you're the first one. I figured that would be a good idea considering how you reacted when you first found out we were together."

"Well can you blame me?" Alistair asked. "I'm used to seeing Selina with Klaus, I go away for awhile, I come back, and there you and she are. It completely floored me." He paused. "But it shouldn't have, now that I think about it. I remember the look on your face the night you came and told me that you'd sent her away from Paris. That was a hard decision for you, wasn't it?"

Elijah nodded. "Especially since I had no idea what I was sending her back _to_. But I figured that whatever it was was better than her spending the rest of her life on the run from my father."

"Are you going to tell him?" Alistair asked. "I mean, will he be able to handle the fact that a woman who he's been trying unsuccessfully to kill for years is going to be the mother of his grandchild?"

"I'll tell him I suppose," Elijah said. "I've been telling him how good she is ever since he got it into his head to start chasing after her again."

"Again?" Alistair asked. "What did she do now?"

Elijah sighed. "Several years ago, she killed a couple on a cruise ship in a way that was very similar to how she used to kill people when she was Lonely Heart. It wasn't _exactly _the same of course, but close enough to get Father's attention and he just can't let it go even though she hasn't done anything else."

"You _know_ about he being Lonely Heart?" Alistair asked, looking surprised. "And you're _okay _with that?"

Elijah nodded. "She's told me how much she regrets what she did, and who among us hasn't done something they regret at one time or another?"

"I certainly have," Alistair said. Just then, the phone rang and Alistair went to answer it. "Selina? Yes, he's here. Would you like to talk to him?"

"No," Selina said. "I just need to ask you a question. Has he ever told you where he _goes_ during the day? He leaves in the morning, is gone for hours, and then when he comes back, he doesn't say a word about his day."

"Just a minute," Alistair said. He put the phone down. "We could be in trouble," Alistair said. "Selina wants to know about your meetings with your father. Are you going to tell her?"

Elijah sighed. "I suppose I might as well." He took the phone and said, "So Alistair tells me you're interested in knowing where I go during the day."

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "Just a little."

Elijah sighed. "Well, normally I wouldn't tell you because I believe I should be allowed to have some secrets of my own, but I suppose since it involves you, you should know. Remember why we left our other house and moved into the one we live in now?"

"Well, yeah," Selina said. "Moving was my idea. Or I agreed to it after Nicky suggested it, anyway. Because we were in danger from your father. Or I was."

"Exactly," Elijah said.

"And what does this have to do with where you go during the day?" Selina asked.

"Well, remember how I had no idea that you were Lonely Heart until Olivia blurted it out?" Elijah said.

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "You always assumed I was a follower of hers and I thought the truth would upset you so I let you think what you wanted."

"And _while_ I was thinking what I wanted, I was also working with my father to track you down so he could end your life. That's where I've been going all this time," Elijah said. "And back in the twenties too." He waited for her to say something, but she said nothing. He heard a click. She'd hung up.

"What did she say?" Alistair asked.

Elijah shrugged. "She hung up on me."

Alistair winced. "Maybe you should go home and talk to her. That might be best."

Elijah nodded and got up to go just as the back door of Alistair's house opened and Klaus strode in.

"What's with the sour faces?" He asked. "Did someone die?"

Elijah sighed. "I just told Selina that I helped Father go after fugitive vampires way back when and that she was my last target before I realized how stupid what Father did was and quit. And that he's having me start up again ever since Selina killed that couple on the cruise ship."

"Wait," Klaus said. "You were helping Mikael kill rogue vampires? You looked me in the eye in '29 and said you'd take care of her. I left her alone with you! So what happened? Did she get lucky and escape?"

"No," Elijah said. "I never meant to hand her over. All I did was put her on a boat and send her back to America. You know all this. I told you before. At the same time I told you I was in love with her then too."

"See, you kind of lost me after you said that." Klaus said. "That's what you should have ended with."

"And while I'm confessing things to you, Selina and I have decided to have a child," Elijah said. "I just thought you should know."

Klaus' eyes widened. "What? So she's pregnant right now?"

Elijah shook his head. "No, but she will be eventually. I just wanted to prepare you now."

Klaus smirked. "Good luck getting her near you after what you told her. She won't give you the time of day except to yell at you."

"Well at least I was honest," Elijah said. "I knew I was going to have to tell her eventually. And now I have and the chips can fall where they may."

"Good luck," Alistair called after him.

* * *

><p>Elijah stood outside the front door and heard an enormous racket coming from inside. She was angry all right, even though she had no reason to be. He shouldn't have been surprised, though. She always overreacted to bad news. He opened the door and ducked just in time to dodge a frying pan that flew right at his head.<p>

"Now, just a minute!" He said. "That was uncalled for!"

"Excuse me?" Selina said. "You tell me that you spent years plotting my death and now I'm supposed to be nice to you? Have you lost your mind?"

"I was just trying to be honest with you," he said. "I don't want us to have a relationship where we keep secrets from each other, especially if we're thinking about having a child soon."

"Oh, I think I was out of my head when I suggested that," Selina said. "I recant it. Who knows? Some day that kid would get a chocolate stain or something on your precious leather sofa and and who knows what you'd do? You'd probably kill them! So I think we'll just leave that alone for now."

Elijah froze. Then strode toward her, pushing her against the wall. "I would _never_," he breathed. "And if you so much as say something like that again, even in jest..." He shook her.

"Get your hands off me," Selina said. "You're as bad as the rest of the lying, cheating scum I've known over the years. I thought you were different!" She pushed him off her and strode out of the kitchen, grabbing her keys and heading for Anna and Stefan's.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean you're leaving?" Selina said. "You can't just <em>leave<em>!"

"I think we can," Stefan said as he and Anna threw bags into the backseat and trunk of his car. "We decided, and Anna's daggering only enforced this, that we're no longer just going to be at your beck and call every time you need us. We're entitled to have our own lives."

"Well, can't you wait to have your own lives _after_ you've helped me with my problem?" Selina asked.

Anna shook her head. "No. You're a resourceful person and I'm sure you can figure out an answer for whatever the problem is. We have to go now or we'll be late meeting Olivia and Roxie in Vegas. We can have lots of fun there. Big transient population, you know. Nobody knows they're there, so no one knows they're missing!"

"Well, fine," Selina said. "You don't worry about me. I have other friends."

Anna nodded. "Good. I'll send you a post card. I promise not to forget." She got in the car and then she and Stefan drove off, leaving Selina standing alone in their driveway. She looked out at the road for a moment, then sighed and got in her car to head to Mystic Falls. She _would_ have to rely on other friends now.

"Selina!" Caroline said in surprise. "What brings you here?"

Selina sighed. "I need some advice and I think you're the best person to give it to me, if you will."

"Sure," Caroline said and sat down on the front steps of Amelia and Matthew's house. "What do you want from me?"

"I just found out something today," Selina said. "Something bad. That someone I love betrayed me a long time ago and I want to forgive him, but I don't know if I can make myself do it."

"Well what did he do to you?" Caroline asked. "Is it Klaus?"

Selina shook her head. "No, his brother. The one I just married. We're talking about having kids!"

"Is that good or bad?" Caroline asked. "Sounds like it's bad."

Selina looked at her. "Well, I know you and Nicky have better things to do than constantly talk about me so he probably hasn't told you this, but years and years ago, after one too many failed relationships, I decided I'd had enough and I began...killing people. Men especially, ones who cheated on me with other women and later just men who cheated in general. I killed the women too. That's how I spent practically all of the twenties. Two kills in '29 finally caught the attention of a vigilante vampire hunter named Mikael, who just happens to be my father-in-law now. Mikael took a special interest in me and was going to kill me in Paris, but Elijah got me out of town and on a boat back to America before Mikael could get at me, but what he _didn't _tell me was that he had been working with Mikael to locate me all along. He gained my trust and then was just gonna throw me to the fishes. And he's doing it _now_ too!" She paused. "What?"

"I'm trying to figure out what the problem is here," Caroline said. "A man who loves you saves your life against the wishes of his father who wants you dead and you're _mad_ at him?"

"He _lied_ to me, Caroline!" Selina said. "Don't tell me I don't have the right to be upset with him, because I do!"

"Well, fine! Be upset," Caroline said. "But you're only gonna make yourself miserable. He never lied to you. Yes, he witheld information, but what did that hurt, really? Did him not telling you that he was in league with his father affect you in a negative way? Or did it get you on a boat and out of Paris before his father had a chance to murder you?"

Selina tried to think of a good answer to that, but she couldn't.

"I would go home and tell him you're sorry if I were you," Caroline said. "I don't see the point in letting this go on any longer."

Selina stood up. "Well, I guess that's your opinion," she said. "I think I'll be going now." She walked a few steps toward her car and then turned. "By the way," she said, "The last man I victimized was your Aunt Louisa's son Alfred. He's a vampire now and if you want to meet him, he's got a house not far from Nicky's."

"Where are you going now?" Caroline asked.

"I don't know," Selina said. "But not home, that's for sure. Not yet."

* * *

><p>"Are you doing all right?" Damon asked Selina several hours later as they walked around the backyard at his house. "I know Sam's still not talking to you. But it'll get better, I promise."<p>

Selina looked up at him and sighed. "I wish we could be sure of that," she said. "But it's not possible. The only way he'd forgive me is if you and I were together and I was here all the time, and we know that can't happen."

"Why not?" Damon asked. "Well, I know why not, but why couldn't you even think about giving it a chance?"

Selina shut her eyes. "Damon, don't do this, please."

"Don't do what?" Damon asked. "I'm not doing anything."

She nodded. "Yes, you are! You're trying to make me feel guilty and I hate it, so stop!"

"Fine," Damon said. "So you can honestly look me in the eyes and tell me you don't want to be with me?"

Selina felt a tear go down her cheek. She wiped it away. "I can't," she shook her head. "I can't and that's why it sucks! You and me, we had our chance and for whatever reason, it didn't work out. You're upset about it, and I'm upset about it too, but we have to move on! For god's sake, Elijah and I are going to have a kid soon! I mean, I'm not pregnant yet, but eventually I will be."

Damon looked at her for a moment, then pulled her to him, kissing her long and hard. Selina stood still and didn't respond. A second later, she heard a voice.

"Excuse me." They pulled apart quickly and turned around to see a perturbed Lucy, who had her arms crossed and was tapping her foot.

"What?" Selina said. "I'm sorry."

"I have to tell Damon about the thing that happened at school today," Lucy said.

Selina wiped her mouth. "Oh, yes. You really should tell him that! You do it and I'll go into the house." She ran away, leaving Damon and Lucy alone.

"So what happened?" He asked her.

"They had me talk to a man and he made me take a test and then some people came and they said I was too smart for kindergarten so they're moving me up two classes! Isn't that great?" Lucy's eyes were shining and a grin took up her whole face.

"Of course, Cookie Monster," Damon said. "That's great!"

"Are you okay?" She asked. "Why were you kissing Mommy?"

As he looked at Lucy's face, a strange sensation overcame Damon. He felt remorse. He felt as if somehow, he'd let Lucy down. "I don't know why I kissed your mommy," he said. "But I shouldn't do it again, should I?"

She shook her head and kissed his cheek. "No, you shouldn't!"

"What are _you_ so happy about?" Joshua asked Sam when he returned to his room. Sam looked up at him and grinned. "Mommy and Daddy were _kissing_!"

"Were they?" Joshua asked. "I wonder why they were doing that."

"Because they _love_ each other," Sam said. He left his room and went to a room down the hall. "I'm gonna play Mommy her song."

"Well, that's good," Joshua said. "But I don't think they were kissing because they love each other. I think it was a mistake."

Sam shook his head. "No, it's _not_ a mistake! Mommy's gonna move back here because she loves_ me_ best!"

Joshua put a hand on Sam's shoulder. He looked sorrowfully at his younger brother, who wanted their mother's love so badly, but would most likely never get what he wanted, at least not the way he wanted it.

"I hope Mother enjoys the nice song you wrote," he said and then disappeared. Sam left the room and went to meet Selina, who was just coming down the hallway. He threw his arms around her and nearly pushed her over.

"Hi," she said. "What's up?"

"I love you!" He said.

She grinned and ran her fingers through his hair. "I love you too, Sammy. You know that, don't you?"

He nodded. "I do now!" He took her hand. "Come here!"

"What is it?" She asked. He led her into the music room and motioned to a chair. "Sit, please," he said.

She sat and then he sat down at the piano. "I made you a song."

"You made me a song?" Selina asked. "How sweet!"

Sam cleared his throat and began playing. It was mostly a bunch of random notes, but Selina thought it was beautiful. When he was done, Selina applauded and Sam got off the stool and bowed.

"That was beautiful, Sammy. Thank you," Selina said.

"You're welcome," he said.

"So how do you like kindergarten?" Selina asked.

"I like it a lot," Sam said. "My teacher says I'm a good reader!"

"Will you show me?" Selina asked. "Why don't you go get a book and read it to me?"

Sam ran out of the music room and returned a few minutes later clutching a small book with a smiling dinosaur on the cover. He sat on Selina's lap and opened it.

"This is Danny the Dinosaur," he read. "He likes bikes. He goes to school and sings a song about water..."

They were halfway through the third Danny the Dinosaur book when they heard a knock on the door and Lucy entered the library. "I need to go to the store and get new stuff for school," she said. "Can we do that?"

"In a minute, Lucy," Selina said. "Your brother and I are busy. After we finish this book, we can go."

"Why can't we go _now_?" Lucy whined.

"Because I promised your brother I'd read with him," Selina said. "Go in the living room please, Lucy."

Sam stuck his tongue out at Lucy when Selina wasn't looking and Lucy stomped off, shutting the library door. After they finished the book, Selina said, "Well, I have to go now, but I'll be back soon, I promise."

"All right," Sam said. "I can't wait!" She gave him one last hug and a kiss, then said goodbye to Damon and she and Lucy picked up Lucy's school supplies and headed home.

* * *

><p>"You seem cheerful," Elijah said when he saw Selina again. "Did you and Sam make up?"<p>

"Yep," she nodded. "He's talking to me now."

Elijah put his arms around her and grinned. "Wonderful! How did that happen?"

Selina sighed. "Well, he saw Damon and me kissing in the backyard, so he thinks we're back together." She shut her eyes, waiting for the blow as he froze, let go of her, and slowly backed away. She couldn't look into his eyes.

"You're showing your angry face, aren't you?" Selina said.

"Well, why don't you look up and see?" Elijah told her. But she didn't have to. His voice was tight, controlled but just barely. His fists were balled up at his sides, but twitched as if he wanted to hit something.

"No thanks," she said. "I think I'll just go put myself in time out." She looked up at him now. "But before I go, I'd just like to apologize for blowing up at you earlier. I didn't handle it well and I'm sorry."

"Well, you _should_ be!" Elijah said. "Do you know what my father would have done to me if he'd found out my role in getting you out of Paris? He wouldn't have hesitated to hurt me. That was a big risk I took for you, so I think that deserves a little consideration! And while we're talking about people keeping secrets from other people, were you ever going to tell me the truth about Lonely Heart? Or were you hoping that someone like Olivia would eventually come along, open their mouth and blurt it out for you?"

"I would have told you sooner if you hadn't been so worried about me when you thought I was Lonely Heart's tool!" Selina said. "You wouldn't have taken it well if I would have told you I was Lonely Heart. Admit it! You'd have yelled and screamed and maybe thrown me out of your house. In case you haven't noticed, you're the first decent guy I've ever been with in my life, the first one who's really made me feel loved and not abandoned me afterward. I know it's silly and I know it's selfish, but I didn't tell you the truth about my past because I didn't want to risk losing you. Can you understand that?"

Elijah nodded. "I understand. There are things I haven't told _you_ because I'm afraid of how you'll react to them. And I'll tell you sometime, but I can't now."

"Is it what Anna was talking about when we went to dinner with her and Stefan?" Selina asked.

He nodded. "Yes it is."

"Well if you promise to tell me when you're ready, I won't push you," Selina said. "I'll wait for you to tell me on your own time."

He reached out and took her hand, kissing it. "Thank you," he said.

"What do you say we start over again?" Selina asked. "We've put each other through enough crap today. I don't have enough energy in me to fight anymore. What do you say I make dinner, you get some wine and we just sit and talk. How about that?"

He nodded. "I'd enjoy that."

An hour or so later, they were standing near at a table set for two. Selina had made chicken and changed into a new dress, which Elijah looked at appreciatively, asking her to spin around a few times. "You look good in blue," he said, then pulled out her chair. "Why thank you," she said, sitting down and putting her napkin in her lap.

"This chicken looks wonderful," Elijah said.

"I tried something a little different with it," she said. "A French receipe. I hope you like it."

"Wine?" He asked her. "I assure you that my intentions are honorable."

Selina grinned and ran her foot up his leg. "Well, that's a shame," she said.

He grinned. "Well, I suppose that could change any minute. Does that bother you?"

She shook her head. "No. It sounds dangerous. I like dangerous men." She leaned across the table and kissed him, then swore. "Oh, damn! I got sauce all over my scarf! I know that's not a major tragedy, but it goes really well with this outfit!"

Elijah got up, came around behind her chair and slowly removed her scarf, kissing her neck. "Surely this won't be the only thing I take off of you tonight," he whispered agaisnt her ear, sending shivers through her body.

"No," she said. "It won't be."

Elijah went back to his chair and grinned at her. "Good." They tried to eat their dinner, but ended up putting most of it in the refrigerator along with the nearly empty bottle of wine.

"What about dessert?" Selina asked.

He shook his head. "I don't see why you need to go to the trouble of making something," he said. He grabbed chocolate syrup out of the refrigerator and they went up to their room. When they got inside the door, he began kissing her neck and slowly undressing her, and she did the same with him. By the time they reached the bed, they were both naked. He threw the covers aside, picked her up and put her on the mattress, climbing on after her. Then he pulled out the syrup bottle, drizzling it all over her body and then licking it off her before entering her, She giggled and clutched him tight. Eventually, she snuck under the covers gave him his turn. She wouldn't let him have all the fun. When they were all tired out, they fell asleep.

A few weeks later, Elijah woke up at two a.m. to the sound of Selina throwing up for the third time in a row. "That's it," he said, grinning. "You're seeing a doctor today."

She grinned. "I already saw my doctor," she said. "And she says I'm pregnant."


	30. Saving Selina

Elijah looked at her in shock. "What do you mean you're pregnant?"

"Well how many other meanings are there?" Selina asked. "Did I wake you up? I'm sorry. I'll try to throw up more quietly."

"Are you sure you're all right?" Elijah asked.

"Well, no," Selina said. "I feel like hell. But it'll get better. Every time I think I'm well enough to get back to bed I just feel sick again. I should just live in here for the next three months."

Elijah looked thoughtful for a minute. "Do you think you could go out for a little while?" He asked. "I'm sure there are several people who need to hear this news. My mother for one."

Selina nodded. "Yeah, I should probably tell her." She left the house for Elissavetta's and once she was out of the way, Elijah got into his car and went to the store to get a bunch of different colored throw pillows and blankets and a spongy mattress cover. He arranged them in the large bathtub and when Selina got back from Elissavetta's, he told her to close her eyes.

"Why?" Selina asked. "What's going on?"

Just do it, please?" He asked.

"Oh, all right?" She said. He led her to the bathroom and told her to open her eyes.

"Why is the bathtub stuffed with pillows and blankets?"

"So you can sleep there!" He said. "It makes for a very short trip to the toilet and you're not passed out on the cold hard floor."

"Well, thank you," Selina said. "But are you sure you'll be okay with this arrangement?"

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "If I remember your other pregnancies correctly, it's only this difficult the first couple of months, right?"

Selina nodded. "I hope so." Yawning, she gave Elijah her hand. "Would you help me in there? I'm sleepy." He picked her up and put her in the toub, and then tucked her in. "Just a minute though, before you settle down," he said. He left and came back with a blood bag. "I want you to drink this," he said.  
>She nodded. "All right, but why wouldn't I? It's what I've been drinking for over a century. Well, that and other things."<p>

"I'm going to go move all the alcohol," he said. "I don't want you drinking."

"Well, I don't," she said. "My doctor doesn't allow it. At least not while I'm pregnant. And I'm surprised you think I'd do something that stupid."

"Well, I don't think that," he said. "I just want to make sure you don't."

"Well, all right," Selina said. "I feel less hurt now."

He got on his knees beside the bathtub. "Just who is your doctor anyway? I don't think I've met him."

"You haven't," Selina said. "_Her_name's Enid and she has a bar not far from here."

"So she's not actually a doctor, is she?" Elijah asked. "Well this is just wonderful!"

"Relax," Selina said. "She got me through my last three pregnancies and they all turned out all right, didn't they? Well, aside from the fact that I got shot before I delivered Adrian, had Roxie after a car crash, and that Sam and Lucy were born at Stefan and Anna's wedding. Other than that, everything has been peachy."

"I would feel more comfortable if you had an actual doctor attending you," Elijah said. "Or at least someone with some sort of medical knowledge. Like Astrid. I'm sure if we tell her, she'll be happy to oversee your care."

Selina sighed. "Will you at least _meet _Enid?" Selina asked. "If you meet her and you don't like her, we can get Astrid and I won't say another word about it, but if we just leave her out without a word, she'll probably be hurt. And not that I've seen it, but I don't think Enid is someone we want to be on the bad side of. She's Vanessa's twin sister. Just something to think about."

"Fine," Elijah said. "Where can I find her?"

"The bar she runs is for werewolves," Selina said. "Or people of werewolf descent. I'm sure if you asked Nicky, he'd take you down there."

He kissed her. "It seems like that's a good idea, but I don't know if I'm comfortable with leaving you alone here. And Anna and Stefan are gone, and..."

"Call Adrian," Selina said. "I'm sure he'd be happy to come over. And bring Lenora with him."

"You've really handled her well," Elijah said. "I'm proud of you."

Selina scoffed. "Well, frankly I'm ashamed of the way I acted after Helene announced she was pregnant. I was horrible, wasn't I?"

"Well, yes," Elijah nodded. "You were, but you were in shock, so it wasn't entirely your fault." He paused. "I thought you were going to go to sleep."

Selina nodded. "I am. Are you going to go call Adrian?"

Elijah nodded. "Yes. And once he gets here, I will go see Niklaus and the two of us will go meet that so-called doctor of yours."

"Just to warn you," Selina said, "Your mother will probably be there. Nicky's father is the bartender at Enid's, and surprisingly enough, Elissavetta tends to go where he goes."

Elijah turned, his hand on the bathroom door. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. If it all gets too difficult for you to handle and you have a few drinks yourself, I won't hold it against you, I promise."

"Well that's very thoughtful of you," he said. "You just close your eyes and I'll go call Adrian and see if he can come and watch you. Then, I'll go and see Niklaus. I should be back later tonight. Are you positive you'll be all right?"

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "You just go and have a good time while you can, and then you can tell me all about it when you get back."

* * *

><p>"Well, what now?" Klaus asked.<p>

"Well, Selina's pregnant, for one," Elijah said.

Klaus' eyes widened. "Come in! Oh, this is just wonderful!"

"I know why you're being sarcastic," Elijah said as he and Klaus walked to the living room. "Now that we've gotten the good news out of the way, I need a favor from you. I need you to take me to a place called Enid's."

Klaus chortled. "You want to go to Enid's? Oh, that's _delightful_. Why?"

"Selina said the owner took care of her when she was pregnant with Adrian, Roxanne, and the twins and she wants to use her again, but first, I have to make sure that she knows what she's doing."

"She does," Klaus said. "You have my word on that."

"Well, you'll forgive me if that's not good enough," Elijah said. "I've never even met this Enid person and on top of that, Selina says she's related to Vanessa, so you understand why I'm worried, don't you?"

Klaus nodded. "I do. I do understand, believe me, and I don't blame you for wanting to be cautious, especially after what happened last time. You haven't told Selina about that, have you?"

Elijah shook his head. "Not exactly. She knows I've done things that I'm not proud of, but I haven't told her exactly what. I plan to though. Eventually. Don't you say anything to her, please."

"I promise I won't," Klaus said. He cleared his throat. "So how's Lucy? I heard she got moved ahead in school."

Elijah nodded. "Yes. She's very intelligent. You should be proud of her. It's the strangest thing. You take Lucy and you take Roxanne and you look at them, and you know right away who their mother is. Not by looks in Lucy's case, but they act a lot like Selina, don't they?"

"I've always thought that too," Klaus said. "Roxanne being a version of the Selina I knew in the good old days-"

"The murderous one, surprise, surprise," Elijah said.

"Well, yes," Klaus nodded. "And Lucy, well, I hope Lucy grows up to be like Selina is now. I would like that."

They sat in introspective silence and then Klaus cleared his throat. "So you mentioned something about wanting to visit Enid's?"

"So this is it?" Elijah asked as he and Klaus walked inside the door.

"Yeah," Klaus nodded appreciatively and tapped the wall by the door a couple of times. "Like it?"

Elijah looked around at the people in their ripped jeans and droopy t-shirts and tried not to shudder. "It has a unique charm," he said. "Now where's this Enid person Selina was talking about?"

"Oh, I don't know," Klaus said. "Sometimes she's here, sometimes she's not." He sat down at the bar and pulled a stool over so that Elijah could take a seat next to him.

"What can I get you boys?" Ronan asked, coming over to them, wiping a glass off with a rag. Elijah was about to open his mouth when Klaus stomped on his foot. "We'll have beers, both of us," Klaus said.

"It's been awhile since you've been in here, son," Ronan said to Klaus. "What's new in your life? Anything?"

Klaus shook his head. "Not really. Well, I suppose you could say I have a new romance in the works, but other than that, nothing new."

"What about Selina?" Ronan asked.

"Oh, I let her go," Klaus said. "She was holding me back," Klaus said, leaning against the counter. "She needed to be with someone more stable like my brother here," He slapped Elijah on the back. "In fact, they're going to have a child, eventually."

"Oh, so you _do_ know!" Elissavetta strolled out and peered at Elijah. "When did she tell you?"

"Before she told even you," Elijah said. "Mother, what are you doing here?"

Ronan raised an eyebrow. " 'Mother'? Lissy, who is this?" He nodded at Elijah.

Elissavetta cleared her throat. "He's one of my children with my...other husband."

"How could you not know that?" Elijah raged. "You've been to my house! You've drunk my alcohol! You ruined my furniture! You-"

"Sit down!" Elissavetta said to him. "I won't have any fights starting. I have another grandchild on the way and I will _not_ allow you to ruin this, Elijah. Incidently, how do you plan on telling your father? You _are_ planning on telling him, aren't you?"

"What choice do I have?" Elijah asked. "But it's _not_ something I'm looking forward to."

"Why not?" Elissavetta asked. "This could be the one thing that finally makes your father lighten up a little."

"You would think that," Elijah said. "And it would be true...except for the fact that Selina is the baby's mother."

"What's the problem with that?" Elissavetta asked.

"Well, Mother," Klaus said, "several years ago, like when she and _I _ first got together back in the twenties, she was in a bit of a mood. She'd been abandoned and dumped by so many men that she was just sick of them and decided to start killing them. She got so talented at it that she caught Mikael's attention, and he decided that like with us if we killed too much, he would have to teach Selina one of his famous 'lessons.'"

"But I got her out of Paris before he had a chance to kill her and now he's after her again because she got hungry once and played with her food in too similar a way to how she did it when she was a killer," Elijah finished.

"So he doesn't know that you and Selina are married?" Elissavetta said.

"He knows I have feelings for her and he's chided me for them, but no, he doesn't know the rest. I might as well tell him about them while I'm at it," Elijah said.

Ronan looked at him with sympathy and plunked a drink down in front of him. "Seems like you could use this," he said. "It'll help build up your courage. Make you brave. We always used to drink before we went out to fight."

Elijah looked at him, then at the glass, then at him, then finally at Klaus, who nodded encouragingly, then downed the beer and asked for another.

"Are you sure?" Ronan asked him. He looked at Klaus. "Tell me," he said. "Is he the sort who can hold his drink or not?"

"Well we'll just have to see, won't we?" Klaus said, a wild glint in his eye.

Ronan looked at him dubiously.

"Oh, come on!" Klaus said. "Are you telling me you never did anything like that to any of _your_ friends?"

"Well, all right," Ronan said and gave Elijah another beer. "But no one should hold me responsible if anything bad happens."

But nothing did happen. After his third beer, Elijah went to the piano and led the bar in a few drinking songs and then got into a darts competition with some of the other patrons.

"You know, you really aren't bad," one of them said to Elijah as he made his third bullseye. "I've never met anyone who can play as well as you."

"Well I _have _had years and years of practice," Elijah said. He looked over and saw a dusty mechanical bull in the corner. He stumbled over to the bar and asked Ronan, "Does anyone ride that?"

"No one has for awhile," Ronan said.

"Why don't you give it a shot?" Klaus said to Elijah. "You used to be a better rider than the rest of us."

"Oh, I don't know," Elijah said. His cheeks and nose were becoming red. "It's been awhile since I've been on a horse."

"Well then it's good that's not a _real_ horse," Klaus said. "It'll give you practice." He looked around the bar. "Who wants to see my brother ride the mechanical bull?"

The bar burst into cheers clapping and then someone started up a chant of "Do it, do it, do it!" Elijah said, "Okay, okay!" and ambled over to the mechanical bull. With a goofy grin on his face and a bravado inspired entirely by the amound of alcohol he'd consumed, he mounted the mechanical bull and then saluted Klaus. "You want to start it up for me, brother?" he asked.

"With pleasure," Klaus said.

"Now just a minute," Elissavetta said, getting between Klaus and the mechanical bull. "I'm not so sure Selina would approve of you doing this."

"Oh, it's all right, Mother," Elijah said amidst the groans. "She told me before I left that she didn't mind if I drank all I wanted. Come on, you said yourself that this is a special occasion! I'm gonna be a father!"

"Fine!" Elissavetta threw up her hands. "Ride the bull, knock yourself unconscious for all I care. But remember that you need to be in your best form when you go see your father. With the news you're going to tell him, that wouldn't hurt you."

"He's not going to be too upset," Klaus said to his mother. "Not at his golden boy. If he didn't get mad at Elijah for sending Selina away from Paris, he certainly won't be mad about this."

Elissavetta rolled her eyes and looked at Ronan. "I'm going home," she said. "I can't watch my sons make fools of themselves any longer."

"All right," Ronan said. "See you later tonight."

After she left, Klaus looked at Elijah. "Now, where were we?"

"You were going to turn the bull on," Elijah said. "And don't bother starting it slow. I can handle a little speed."

Klaus turned the bull on and Elijah held on tight as it went back and forth, threatening to buck him. Despite the speed, he managed to hold on. The patrons began chanting, "Faster, Faster," until the bull was at its top speed and Elijah went flying off into a wall.

The noise caught the attention of someone upstairs and she came stomping down. "All right," Enid said, her dark eyes flashing. "What's going on here? What's all this noise?" She noticed Elijah over by the wall and strode over to him, looking down. "Who are you?" She asked. "I've never seen you around here that I can recall."

"He's my brother, Enid," Klaus said, struggling to pull Elijah up and brush him off. "And it's good you're here. He came to see you, actually."

"Did I?" Elijah asked, shaking his head. He giggled. "You know, it's funny. I've actually forgotten why I came here. It's a good thing you remembered."

"So what is it you needed to see me about?" Enid asked him. "Or are you too soused at the moment to remember?"

Elijah looked at Klaus. "Why did I come here?" He asked. "You tell her."

"Selina's pregnant again," Klaus told Enid. "And my brother is the father. Selina mentioned that you took care of her when she was pregnant in the past and he, for his own security, wanted to make sure that you knew what you were doing before you took care of their baby. Don't feel bad. He's a bit of a traditionalist."

"First time father, huh?" Enid said, getting down on her knees next to Elijah. "I can't blame you for being nervous."

"He actually isn't a first time father," Klaus said to Enid. "When we were human, before Vanessa came and worked her magic, he was married. He had six living children at that point and when we became vampires, he killed all of them."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Enid said. "How horrible!"

"Yes, well," Elijah finally got to his feet. "I don't really like to dwell on it. There's no point, is there?"

"Well, if there's anything I can do for you, I'll do it. All you have to do is ask. I'm fully capable of helping Selina through her pregnancy and delivery and I'd be more than happy to do so again as I have in the past," Enid told him.

"I know you mean well," Elijah told her. "But I think I would prefer to use someone else."

Enid nodded. "I understand. Congratulations. And would you tell Selina I said hello?"

"I will," Elijah said.

He looked at Klaus who was halfway through another drink. "I'd like to go, Niklaus."

"So go," Klaus said. "I don't see what you need me for."

Elijah rolled his eyes, went outside, stuck his head in the water barrel and then, after drying himself off, went back into the bar, pulled Klaus away from his drink, and the two of them drove away from Enid's and toward his father's house. When he paused at a stoplight, he pulled out his phone to call Selina and see how she was doing. No one answered the phone right away, so he kept letting it ring, wondering what could be taking her so long. He hoped she was all right.

* * *

><p>"So remind me again why you were in the bathtub when we got here?" Adrian asked.<p>

"Well," Selina said, "I'm pregnant again, and sick sometimes and your uncle thought it would be easier if I slept in the bathroom somehow so that I would be closer to the toilet, yet not sleeping on the bathroom floor. He found me that way once and I have to admit that it wasn't incredibly comfortable."

"Another kid?" Adrian asked. "Geez."

"Oh, come on!" Selina said. "It's been six years since the last one. It's not like I'm pushing out kids one right after the other. Besides, I think it would be good for your uncle to have at least one kid that he can actually call his own."

"So you're doing this for him?" Adrian said.

"Well, and for me too," Selina replied. "With Lucy at school all day I need something to do with myself."

"If you need something to do with yourself while Lucy is at school, you could always babysit Lenora," Adrian said. "Never a dull moment there."

"I am _not_ a baby!" Lenora said, frowning. She raised her hand and Adrian grabbed her wrist. "You so much as move your pinky and we're going to go home and you'll be in timeout," Adrian said. "You know what happens when you move your hand around."

Lenora stomped her foot. "Fine," she said and Adrian let her wrist go.

Selina tried not to laugh, but it was hard. "What's so funny?" Adrian asked.

"So she's figured out the results a sudden hand movement can have?"

"Yes," Adrian sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Some days I just want to have Helene call up Hazel and be like 'Take Lenora's powers away, please!' That's what I should have done instead of having Helene make her werewolf side dormant. It's easy to manage that. All she has to do is not kill anyone and it won't get activated. No unexpected surprises there."

"Not necessarily," Selina said. "You can't always control what little kids do. I mean, in my case, Mama had every intention for me _not_ to be a werewolf, but when I was five, I almost killed our overseer. She didn't know I was going to do it and but for the interference of my cousin Michael, it would have happened. You just never know."

"I'm _bored_," Lenora said. "Let's _do_ something!"

"How about we make a cake?" Selina suggested. "Do you want to make a cake?"

"I like cake!" Lenora said and followed Selina into the kitchen. When she realized Adrian was following her, she turned around. "May we help you?"

"What? I don't get to make cake too?" He asked.

Selina began pulling receipe books out. "Well if I recall, you used to think that baking was a girls' job!"

"Well that was when I was a kid!" Adrian said. "I'm much more enlightened now."

"Should we let him stay, Lenora?" Selina asked.

Lenora gave her father a considering look. "Okay!" she said.

Selina plunked a stack of books in front of Adrian. "How about the two of you look through those and pick out a receipe?"

Lenora grabbed a book from the middle of the pile and sent the rest clattering to the floor. "Oopsie," she said. "Sorry, grandma."

Selina sighed. "It's all right, Lenora." She looked at Adrian. "Where's Helene today?"

"She'll be here eventually," Adrian said. "She and Alistair had to do a thing."

"A thing?" Selina repeated. "How specific."

After awhile, Lenora said, "I found one! I found a cake!"

"Let me see," Selina said. "Oh, a chocolate one. Good choice!"

"Do we have all the stuff?" Lenora asked.

"If we don't, I'd be happy to do a grocery run," Adrian said.

Selina sat Lenora on the counter next to the sink and looked the receipe over. "I think we have everything. Except for the eggs. Would you go and get eggs please, Adrian?"

"No problem," he said. He grabbed his keys and headed for the door. "You want to come with me to the store, Lenora?"

"No, thank you, Daddy," Lenora said. "I'll stay here."

"All right," Adrian said. "Whatever." He left the house and Selina and Lenora continued to pull out ingriedients and utensils for the cake.

"We need two cups of flour, some sugar, some butter..." Lenora took the bag of flour, stuck her hands in, and began pulling out handfuls and putting them in the bowl.

"No, no, no!" Selina said when she noticed this. "You're supposed to use a measuring cup." She dumped the flour down the sink and stuck a measuring cup in the flour bag. "Like this, Lenora. See?"

"Okay," Lenora said. Then she stuck her hand in the bag again and threw a handful that got Selina right in the face. Selina spat and wiped it out of her eyes. "What did you do that for?" She asked.

Lenora pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes and smiled. "Cause I felt like it," she sad.

Selina grabbed the sprayer from the sink and turned the water on, soaking Lenora from head to toe. "Well, I felt like doing that!" She said.

Lenora burst out laughing and soon, cake forgotten, they were involved in a big food fight that didn't end until Adrian returned with the eggs.

"What the hell is going on here?" He asked.

"We got a little distracted," Selina said.

"Well, I can see that," Adrian said. "Now are we gonna make this cake or what?"

They made the cake, but as they were cutting it, Selina began to feel sick to her stomach. "I'm just gonna run to the bathroom," Selina said. "I'm not feeling too well."  
>Adrian put the knives away and then offered to come with her. That left Lenora alone in the kitchen, and with a sweep of her hands, all the cupboard and drawers in the kitchen opened and untensils and plates and bowls began flying around the room just as a car pulled up outside. Helene parked in the driveway and went in the side door that led to the kitchen, ducking just in time to avoid a flying knife.<p>

"Lenora!" She yelled. Suddenly, everything that had been airborne clattered to the floor and Lenora turned around, face flushed. "Hi, Mommy," she said. "You're pretty."

"Oh, don't 'you're pretty' me, young lady," Helene said. "What are you doing? Where are Daddy and Grandma?"

"Grandma didn't feel good, so she and Daddy are in the bathroom," Lenora said.

Helene picked the knives up off the floor and put them on the counters. "What have I told you about playing with knives, Lenora?" She asked.

"To not to," Lenora said.

"Well, then don't!" Helene told her. "It's not that hard!"

"But they were flying in the air," Lenora said. "I was having fun!"

"I don't care!" Helene said. "What if a knife had flown the wrong way and cut your cheek or your neck? You could be really hurt!"

"I would get better," Lenora said. "I always get better."

"Even so," Helene said through her teeth, "No playing with knives or matches or anything that could hurt you. They aren't toys."

Just then, the phone rang. "Hello?" Helene said. "Oh, hi, Elijah. Oh, I don't know, I'm sorry. I'm sure she's fine, but let me go get Adrian for you." She kept the phone in one hand and took Lenora's hand in the other. They left the kitchen, Helene calling for Adrian.

"What's going on?" Adrian asked as he and Selina emerged from the bathroom. "Oh, Helene, you got here!"

"Elijah's on the phone," Helene said, handing it to Selina. "He sounds worried."

Selina took the phone from her. "Hello? No, I'm fine. Just a little usual upset stomach. I'm better now though, at least for the moment. Adrian and that bunch are here and looking out for me. Are you all right? You did? Did you have fun?" Her eyes widened. "You're doing what? Are you sure that's a good idea?" She sighed. "Well, all right. If you think that's best, I'll trust you. Goodbye, honey." She sighed heavily and gave Helene the phone to hang up.

"What's the matter?" Adrian asked.

"Elijah says he needs to go and tell his father about what's going on with me," she said. "You know, because it affects him too."

Adrian's eyes widened. "Has he completely lost his mind? That could be big trouble for you!"

"I _know_," Selina said. "But I'm choosing to trust him. I know he would never intentionally do anything that would hurt me, especially not now. Besides, he has your father with him, so if worse comes to worse, Nicky might take care of Mikael for me. He used to mention how he always wanted to do that."

* * *

><p>"Where is it that we're going again?" Klaus asked.<p>

"To see my father," Elijah said.

"Why? Not for the reason I think you're going to see him," Klaus said. "_Is_ that the reason?"

"Well, he has to know that she's expecting his grandchild," Elijah said. "It's just polite, that's all. And him knowing that might be the one thing that saves her. Did you ever think about that?"

"I think you've lost your mind!" Klaus said. "He's been trying to kill her for years. This isn't gonna change his mind!"

"Yes, it will!" Elijah insisted. "If he knows that she's carrying a future Mikaelson, he'll at least let her stay alive until the baby's born."

"And then what?" Klaus asked. "Are you just gonna let him come after her again? If you don't do something about this, you'll be as bad as I was years ago. She told you she didn't want to keep running from him all her life, so we need to come up with a more permanent solution after your child is born."

"Oh, I know," Elijah said. "And I'll think of one, don't you worry."

They reached Mikael and Aleksandr's house and when they opened the door and went inside, shouting met their ears.

"What is that?" Elijah asked as Aleksandr came toward them.

"Mother's returned," Aleksandr said. "Told me she wanted to have a word with Father and fool that I was I let her in. They've been fighting ever since. I've tried to stem the fighting, but I've had no luck." He looked appealingly at Elijah. "Would you give it a try, brother?"

"I could," Elijah nodded. "Where are they?"

Aleksandr led them to a room concealed by a heavy oak door. There was yelling coming from inside the room. Together, Elijah and Aleksandr opened the door and Elijah went inside, standing just inside the door, watching his parents square off:

"...How dare you come back into my home, you whore!" Mikael thundered. "I should have killed you years ago!"

"You can call me what you want, but I have never felt shame for what I did!" Elissavetta said. "Ronan made me feel loved and appreciated. Something you _never_ did, you cold, heartless monster!"

Mikael gave Elissavetta a hard slap across the cheek. "Silence!" He said. "I will not be spoken to like that!" He pushed her to the floor and was about to give her a swift kick in the abdomen when a voice stopped him.

"What are you _doing_, Father?" Elijah called out.

Mikael turned. "Elijah! What are you doing here?"

With hesitation, Elijah stepped further into the room, coming to stand next to his father. "I came because I have something to tell you," he said, avoiding his father's eyes. "Something that will make you happy."

"You haven't come to tell him about Selina, have you?" Elissavetta said, wincing as she sat up.

"Who's Selina?" Mikael asked.

"My wife," Elijah said. "She's expecting our first child."

"Well, that's good news," Mikael said, slapping Elijah on the back. "Let's go have a drink."

Suddenly, Elissavetta burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Mikael asked.

"Oh, nothing," she said. "Just that eventually there will be a surprise in store for you." A grin spread over Elissavetta's face. She got up and advanced toward Mikael. "Selina? For the longest period of time, she was known as Sera Gardner. Is that name familiar to you?"

Mikael's eyes widened. "Lonely Heart!" He turned to Elijah. "You're having a child with Lonely Heart?"

"Yes, he is," Elissavetta nodded. "And I know that if I let you live, you'll just cause trouble. And we can't have that. Not when things are so perfect now." With a yell, she grabbed hold of a stunned Mikael and shoved him at Elijah before producing a dagger from behind her back and plunging it into Mikael's middle.

Elijah stiffened, his mouth wide with shock, dropping his father's body to the floor. He looked at Elissavetta, who was breathing heavily. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Elijah," she said. "But it's the only thing that can be done now to keep Selina and your child safe. You know that."

"I do," Elijah said when he could finally speak. "I understand." Giving his father one last glance, he turned on his heel and walked toward the door. "I brought Niklaus with me," He told his mother. "I'm sure he'd be more than willing to look after Father's body until things are safe again."

They appeared in the front room and stared at Klaus in silence for a few minutes.

"What's happened?" Klaus asked, standing up.

"It's done," Elissavetta said to him quietly. "Mikael has been immobilized. Selina will be able to go through her pregnancy without worry now. Go home both of you and tell her the good news."

"All right, Mother," Klaus said. Elijah was still in shock over what he'd seen his mother do, so Klaus had to half lead, half carry him out of the house and back to his car, where he put him in the passenger seat and took over the position as driver. The ride was silent until they reached Selina and Elijah's.

"Are you going to be all right?" Klaus asked Elijah.

Elijah nodded. "I'll be fine," he said. "I just need a little time to digest all this. That's all."

"I could stay the night with you, if you like," Klaus said.

"I would like that," Elijah said. They went inside the house and found Selina sitting on the sofa in the living room. She looked worn out.

"Are you all right?" Klaus asked her. "What happened to you?"

"I spent the day with Lenora," Selina said.

Klaus nodded. "Well, that explains it. Consider it a victory you made it out in one piece."

"I'm going to go to our room," Elijah said to Selina. "Will you be coming soon?"

"Sure," Selina nodded. Elijah walked away, and then Selina said to Klaus, "What's wrong with him?"

"He should be the one to tell you," Klaus said. "But I promised I'd stay here tonight, for moral support, you know."

"All right," Selina nodded. "Pick any room you want to stay in, and Lucy gets done with school in about an hour. Would you go and pick her up? It would be a nice surprise for her and she has _loads_ to tell you."

"Of course," Klaus nodded. "That won't be a problem."

"Thanks," Selina grinned. "You're a big help." She got up and walked to her bedroom where Elijah sat on the bed, looking melancholy.

"So what happened?" Selina asked. "Something awful, I take it."

"Well, in a way it's not entirely awful," Elijah said, running a hand over her arm. "When Niklaus and I arrived at my father's house to tell him about you, we found him and my mother engaged in a fight. She was the one who told him that you were expecting, and then she-" He paused and took a deep breath. "She daggered him," he finished quietly. "Today I saw my mother dagger my father."

"She did what?" Selina asked. "My god, that's genius! Why didn't we think of that _years_ ago? It would have saved a lot of running around."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she felt terrible. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, putting her head on his shoulder. "I know you and your father were close in a way."

"That doesn't matter," Elijah said. "If my mother hadn't daggered him, I would have done it myself to save you. There's no question about that. I'd pick you every time."

She looked up at him. "Well, thank you," she said. "Thank you for picking me." Then she looked down at her stomach. "I mean for picking us."


	31. The End of the Rope

Elijah woke up the next morning to hear sobbing coming from the bathroom. He went inside and found Selina leaning against the tub, tears running down her cheeks, her face red.

"What's the matter?" He asked her. "Did something happen?"

She sniffled and wiped her eyes with a corner of her sheet. "No, I just realized that you said you'd kill your father for me. That is so giving and sweet and...I just don't deserve you!" A new flood of tears fell from her eyes as she put her arms around him and sobbed into his bare shoulder.

"It's okay," he said. "It's all right. I'm going to go get you something to drink, all right?"

She nodded. "Okay." He left and came back clutching a blood bag and a tissue box. "Here," he said. "Take both."

"All right," Selina took the tissues and blew her nose.

Just then, they heard a knock on the bathroom door. "Come in," Elijah said.

Lucy entered the bathroom and looked at her mother, then at Elijah. "Why is Mommy crying in the bathtub?" She asked.  
>Elijah looked at Lucy. "You're mother's going to have a baby."<p>

"What?" Lucy said. "How?"

Selina and Elijah looked at one another and then Elijah said, "I'll explain it later. You have to get ready for school, okay?"

Lucy sighed. "Oh, all right." She left the bathroom muttering under her breath and then Elijah turned back to Selina. "Are you all right, really?" He asked.

She nodded. "Well, yeah." She moved some hair out of his eyes. "What's happened to you? You look tired."

"It's because I got up once every hour to check up on you," he said.

Selina's eyes widened. "Why would you do that? You didn't have to."

"Well, I came in and tried to wake you once, but you wouldn't wake so I got worried," Elijah said

"I'm a sound sleeper," Selina told him. "Rarely can I be woken up in the middle of the night. Don't feel like you have to run yourself ragged. I mean, it's sweet and everything, but you need to look out for yourself, too."

He sighed. "Oh, all right," he said. "I should probably drop Lucy off at school. Will you be all right by yourself for a litle while?"

She nodded. "I swear."

He left, Selina went back to sleep, and when he came back, he was dressed in jeans and no shirt, clutching a breakfast tray. "Hungry?" He asked her, grinning.

"You didn't have to bring me anything," Selina said. "All I need is help out of the tub and I am perfectly capable of feeding myself." She looked him over. "But I have to say I really appreciate the new look."

"I thought you would," Elijah said. He helped her out of the tub and she walked around him. "Those pants make your ass look so good!" She pulled him to her and stuck both her hands in his back pockets. He made a noise deep in his throat. "No, no," he said, "you have to eat first."

"But I don't want too!" Selina said. "I'm not even hungry for food!" She kissed him, then run her tongue down his neck. He backed her up against the wall, his fingers dipping under the high collar of her pink, lacy night gown. "Would this be an appropriate time for me to mention I'm not wearing anything under my pajamas?" She asked him.

Elijah grinned. "It would be a very appropriate time for you to mention you aren't wearing anything under your pajamas, but you have to eat first. At least have a bite of something to keep your strength up. You're going to need it."

"Oh, all right," Selina said. She sat down and picked up the teacup first, taking a cautious sip. "That's not bad," she said. "Peppermint tea?"

He nodded. "I thought it would be good for your stomach."

Selina put the cup down and took a bite of what looked like eggs from the tray. Then, her face twisted and she spat it out. "Oh, my god!" She said. "What _is_ this? Did you try to cook by yourself?"

Elijah winced. "No good?"

Selina sighed. "For a first effort, I give you points. At least you didn't burn anything. And you make good tea. I think I'll just have a blood bag for now."

"Are you sure that's enough?" Elijah asked.

Selina nodded. "Yeah, that's enough. I'll make myself something later, I promise."

* * *

><p>"Have you done it?" Elijah said as he walked into the kitchen an hour later. "Have you made yourself something to eat?"<p>

Selina turned. She was stirring the contents of a large blue bowl on the counter next to the kitchen sink. "Yeah. "I'm making something right now. See?"

Elijah looked at the dark substance in the bowl and winced. "What _is_ that?"

"It's chocolate pudding!" Selina said. "I'm making myself chocolate pudding."

"That's not good at all," Elijah said. "You can't just eat chocolate pudding and call it a meal."

"Who says?" Selina asked. "You know, Nicky let me eat like this all the time when I was pregnant. He didn't even bat an eye."

"Well, now things are going to be different," Elijah said. "Don't you _want_ to be more mindful about what you eat?" He asked. "I know you. Monthes from now, you'll be standing in front of the mirror in our closet, a pout on your face and and saying 'Oh, my god, how did I get so fat? You probably don't even want to come near me anymore, Elijah!'"

"I don't talk like that!" Selina said.

"Yes, you do," Elijah said. "I've heard you. And to prevent that, here is what I will do: I will take this bowl of pudding, I will put it somewhere only I know, and every day until it is no longer edible, you will get a small bowl. The rest of the time, you will eat healthy. It won't be such a tragedy, I promise."

"Wow," Selina said. "You really have balls ordering around a pregnant woman, don't you?"

"You'll thank me," Elijah said. "Now," he pulled a dvd out from behind his back. "I brought another one of my favorite operas for you to shamelessly mock like you always do. What do you say?"

"_The Ring Cycle_?" Selina said. "Really? That's like five million hours long!"

"Maybe so, but it's really wonderful," Elijah said. "I think you'll like it. It's German. You usually like German opera."

"Well, fine," Selina said. "I'll give it a shot, I guess." She went to sit down on the sofa and he put the movie in. Thirty minutes later, she decided she couldn't take it anymore. She put a hand on Elijah's leg.

"Honey," she said, "I'm feeling a little queasy. Could you get me clear soda and some crackers? Please?"

He kissed her forehead. "Of course."

She grinned. "Thanks for not putting a shirt on. I appreciate it."

"Well, I figure we're inside and no one's here but you and me, so going shirtless isn't so bad. But let me get something straight," he said. "This is as far as I will go outside of our bedroom, do you understand me? Don't expect me to stroll around the house naked or anything like that."

"What if we get overcome by each other's collective splendors and decide to make love on the living room floor?" Selina asked. "Then you'd _have _ to be naked outside of the bedroom."

"Not necessarily," Elijah said.

"Well you would if you wanted any enjoyment from _me_," Selina replied. "It's easier for me when you're not wearing anything."

"You were saying you wanted a soda and crackers?" Elijah asked. "Anything else?"

"No," Selina smirked. "That's all I need, thank you. Or maybe some chips. Chips would be good. You told me you got me some of those, the ranch flavored ones I like."

"I put them downstairs," Elijah told her. "You said you weren't hungry for them yet."

"But now I am," Selina said. "Would you go and get them? _Please_?"

"Oh, all right," Elijah sighed. "I'll be back in a little while. Make sure you pause the movie, will you? I don't want to miss any of it."

"All right," Selina said. "I will." She paused the movie, he went downstairs, and once he was gone, Selina went up to her room to grab the dvd that had all the Looney Tunes on it, so she could play the one with Bugs and Elmer Fudd as Vikings. She brought it down to the living room, removed the DVD from the player and put her new one in, singing along. Just as she was singing, "Bwonhilda, beeee my wooooove!" At the top of her lungs, Elijah came up the stairs. "What's this?" he asked. "Cartoons? Selina, really!"

"What's wrong with cartoons?" Selina asked.

"Aren't you a little old for cartoons?" He asked. "You should like more sophisticated things that help you develop your mind. I don't think even Lucy would watch this."

"Well, good lord," Selina said. "I would have thought getting you out of that suit would help you loosen up a little, but you're still the same. It doesn't hurt a person to watch mindless entertainment every once in awhile. It's _fun_. Do you have any idea what fun is?"

"I do," Elijah said.

"I don't think so," Selina said. "You stole my pudding, you won't let me watch cartoons, what is the matter with you?"

"How about you eat your crackers?" He said. "And then I'll give you a back rub. Does your back hurt?"

"No, my back doesn't hurt...much," Selina said. She leaned forward, trying not to wince.

"It does, doesn't it?" Elijah said. He sat down beside her and took her in his arms, running his hand up and down her back. "Does that feel better?"

"Oh, no you don't!" Selina said, moving his hand. "You're just trying to soften me up so you can distract me from my principles! Well it's not gonna work. I don't need your stupid back rubs, okay? Now I'm going to get my damn pudding from wherever the hell you hid it and I will eat it with impunity!"

Elijah sighed. "All right," he said. "But when you get bored and decide it's doing you no good to act like a child, I'll be waiting for you."

Selina grabbed her sprite and dumped it in Elijah's lap so it soaked the crotch of his jeans. "Well that'll just be awhile, now won't it?" She stalked off and Elijah called after her, "Don't you want to know where I hid your pudding?"

She turned. "Like you'd tell me, you pompous, self-absorbed control freak!" She went to her spare bedroom and dug around under the bed until she found the large bag of candy she'd hidden there. She shut the door and sat on the bed, eating it, and throwing the wrappers on the floor.

Several minutes later, she heard a knock on the bedroom door. "Come in!" She called through a mouth full of caramels.

Elijah opened the door and came in. He was clutching a small bowl of chocolate pudding in one hand and smirking.

"What's so funny?" She asked, swallowing.

"Oh, nothing," he said. "Just you. I brought you some pudding."

"I thought you said I couldn't have any!" She said.

"I said you couldn't have a giant bowl in one sitting," he corrected her. "There's a difference between that and nothing at all." He pulled out a spoon, put some pudding on it and held it out to her. She stared at him for a moment and didn't take it.

"Fine," he said. "Open up, I'll feed it to you."

She opened her mouth and he began spoon-feeding her pudding. Then she took some and smeared it all over his neck, leaning forward and licking it off. He put the bowl down. "Well, this is a new development," he said, easing her down onto the mattress. "What changed your mind?"

"Well," she said, "chocolate looks good on you. _And_ you didn't say anything about the candy wrappers all over the floor."

"Now that you mention it..." He grinned.

Selina ran her fingers through his hair. "Oh, shut up," she said and kissed him. When they pulled apart, she looked down. "Oh, dear, there seems to be a spot on your pants. How did that happen?"

"An adorable but angry young woman did this to me," he said. "Well, she _seemed_ angry. But between the two of us, she'd do _anything_ to get me out of my pants, so that might have had something to do with it."

Selina grinned. "She certainly _would_ do anything. So what do you say? You want to get out of those stained pants and...?"

Elijah didn't even let her finish. His hand slid under her skirt, up her leg and came to rest on her panties. She whimpered. "You accused me earlier of using backrubs to distract you from your principles," he said. "But that's ridiculous. If I were going to distract you from your principles, I would do something much more enjoyable for you than that." He began to rub her and she let out a shriek. When it had gone on long enough, he unzipped his jeans, eased off her soaking panties and entered her. She moaned, holding tight to his neck with one arm and running her hands through his hair with her other hand.

After they finished, Selina looked at the clock. "Wow," she said. "If we're going to do that again, we should probably set a timer or something. We wouldn't want to get so distracted that we forget to pick up Lucy from school." She took another deep breath and then rolled over to look at him. "That was highly enjoyable," she said. "Did you enjoy it?"

He nodded. "I did."

She smirked. "Well, it's not going to last forever, so savor the moment while you can. Eventually I'll be as big as an elephant and-"

"Not if you moderate your consumption of junk food," he said. "Would you at least give the idea some thought? It really _will _ make you feel better about yourself and it's not like you won't get to have _any_ sweets at all. Just fewer."

"I don't want _fewer_," Selina said. "I _like_ sweets!"

"Well, then you have a choice to make," Elijah said. "Either eat all the sweets you want and then don't say a word to me about how fat you think you are, _or_ eat fewer sweets and you can still complain all you want."

"So I can't eat all the sweets I want _and_ complain all I want?" Selina asked.

Elijah shook his head. "Not if you don't want to hear a bunch of long-winded lectures."

"Fine," Selina said. "Take my candy, watch my pudding, do whatever the hell you want." She sighed and he rubbed her stomach. "It'll be all right," he said. "You'll survive easier than you think."

* * *

><p>Two months later, Elijah came to bed one night and found Selina standing in front of the mirror without her clothes on. "It's not fair, is it?" She said, putting a hand on her expanding stomach. "Just when my morning sickness goes away, I start to get fat. And it's only been four months, for crying out loud!" She pouted and Elijah took her hand and led her to bed. "It's all right," he said. "You've really been doing well with our little arrangement, though. I'm proud of you."<p>

"Well, I can't take all the credit," Selina said. "Last month was absolute hell! I couldn't keep _any _sweets down at all! Even the stuff I was allowed to have just came right back out of me. Maybe the kid doesn't like junk food," she shrugged. "I was able to keep the vegetables and stuff down, though."

"Well, that's interesting," Elijah said. "It seems like our child is keeping an eye on you when I'm not around to."

"Great," Selina grinned. "Just what I need: another you." She grinned. "I probably could use another you, actually."

"Oh, don't be too hard on yourself," Elijah said, his eyes twinkling as he chucked her under the chin. "You're not so bad. A little childish perhaps, but in small doses, I suppose that's not the worst thing in the world."

Selina smiled. "Oh, go on."

Elijah grinned back and kissed her hand.

"There's just one thing I need to talk to you about," Selina said. "If, as the months go on, the pregnancy makes things difficult for Lucy, you know, things like concentrating on her school work and all, would it be all right if she stayed somewhere else for a while?"

"Like where?" Elijah asked.

Selina took a deep breath. "Well, I was thinking Damon's. Now I know you don't like him all that much, but Lucy does, and I don't think we'd have any reason to worry."

He sighed. "I can't say I'm not a little nervous, but _you_ are what is most important to me right now. You and the baby. So I won't fight you. Go ahead and give Damon a call."

* * *

><p>Sam watched Lucy come in the house with her teddy in one hand and her suitcase in another. "What are<em> you <em>doing here?" He asked her.

"Mommy said I could stay," she said. "I can't concentrate at home."

"There you are, Lucy," Damon said. "Would you like me to take your things?"

Lucy grinned. "I can do it!" She walked around and found the biggest bedroom and stuck her suitcase next to the bed, trying to climb up.

"Lucy, what are you doing?" Damon asked. "This is _my _room."

Lucy turned, eyes wide. "Is it? I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Damon said, picking her up and putting her on the floor. "You can stay next door." He walked her to her room and helped her unpack and then she and Damon spend the rest of the day watching television.

* * *

><p>That night, Sam decided that he had to take matters into his own hands because he hated that Lucy was here buddying up to his dad when she already had all the time with their mother. While Lucy brushed her teeth, he snuck into her room and hid under her bed, then when Lucy's lights went out, he growled. He did it three times, then Lucy let out a shriek. She ran out of the room and knocked on Damon's door. He opened it and she shot in, struggling to climb on the bed.<p>

"There's a monster in my room!" Lucy said. "It goes grrrrr! Can I sleep with you in your bed?"

"Oh, I don't know," Damon told her. Her eyes got wide and he swore he could see the beginnings of tears in them. "Please?"

"Oh, all right," Damon said. "But just for tonight." He picked her up, put her in his bed, put his arm around her, then made a noise in his throat as she snuggled against him and as she fell asleep, a naughty plan began to form in her mind.

* * *

><p>The next day, Damon woke up to an odd sensation. He sat up and saw Lucy bouncing up and down on the mattress.<p>

"All right," he said. "You know your mother doesn't like it when you do that."

"But Mommy's not here," Lucy said. "Let's just not tell her."

"You know I can't do that," Damon said. "I promised your mother that I would take good care of you while you were here. You don't want to get me in trouble, do you?"

"No," Lucy said, her eyes lowering. "I don't."

"Well, then don't jump on the bed, please," Damon said.

Lucy stopped jumping. "I've stopped."

"Thank you," he nodded. "Now let's go see about the monster under your bed, shall we?" He took her hand and led her back to her room. The door was closed and inside they could hear Sam talking to someone.

"What's Sam doing in my room?" Lucy asked.

"I have a feeling _he_ was the one under your bed last night," Damon said.

"Well, that's not very nice!" Lucy frowned and put a hand on the door handle.

"Don't just go barging in there," Damon said. "We have to be careful about how we handle this, okay?"

Lucy nodded. "Okay."

Damon opened the door and he and Lucy went inside. "Good morning, Sam," he said. "How did you sleep?"

Sam yawned. "Not good."

"He was under the bed all night," Joshua said.

"What was that voice?" Lucy asked Damon.

"What voice?" Damon asked.

"The one that said 'He was under the bed all night'." She moved her voice to a lower pitch that made Damon grin. "And don't tell me you didn't hear anything," she said with her hands on her hips. "I'm not stupid!"

"I never said you were," Damon said. "I _did_ hear it. It's your brother Joshua. He's a ghost."

"Joshua's not _her_ brother!" Sam said. "He's _my_ brother!"

"He's brother to both of you," Damon corrected.

"Why is he a ghost?" Lucy asked.

"Because your mommy had him a long time ago," Damon said. "Back when we were still human and she loved me. He grew up, got old and died."

"I'm sorry," Lucy said. She gave Damon a hug. Sam watched them for a moment, then grabbed Lucy's arm and tried to pull her away.

"Let me go!" Lucy said. "Let me go! Mommy said I couldn't hurt you, but if you don't let me go-"

"Sam!" Joshua said sharply, "Let her go!"

"Fine," Sam said, looking resentfully at his brother. He let her go and stomped off to his room.

"Are you all right?" Damon asked Lucy.

She rubbed her arm. "I'm fine." She paused. "So there's a ghost in here?"

Damon nodded. "Come here." He led her to the living room and showed her the picture of Joshua Selina had put over the fireplace. "This is Joshua. He's the ghost."

Lucy smiled. "He's handsome like you."

Damon grinned. "Well, thank you."

"Does Mommy know about him?" Lucy asked.

Damon shook his head. "No, and he doesn't think she should yet, so don't tell her."

"Actually," Joshua said, "now is a good time for her to know. Could you get her to come over one day, Father?"

"Can he stop being a voice?" Lucy asked. "It's scary."

Joshua grinned and made himself visible to her. "Hi, honey," he said.

She waved shyly. "Hi." Her cheeks turned red and she turned away from him.

"I didn't know she was this shy," Joshua said to Damon. "Is that normal behavior?"

"No," Damon shook his head. "She only seems to be that way around_ me_. And, apparently, you."

"So will you tell Mother?" Joshua asked Damon.

He nodded. "I will."

"Did Mommy tell you she and Uncle Elijah are gonna have a _baby_?" Lucy asked Damon.

Damon nodded. "She told me on the phone. You get to be a big sister. Are you excited?"

"It's kind of like with Lenora," Lucy said. "I give her my old toys. And my dresses when they get small."

"Well that's very good you're learning to share," Damon told her.

Lucy nodded. "I'm a good sharer. Better than _Sam_."

Damon sighed. "He's just upset because you get to see your mommy more than he does. That's all."

"He's gonna see her when she comes to talk about Joshua," Lucy said. "If you and me go and get ice cream when she comes, they can have privacy."

"Well, that's very thoughtful of you," Damon said. "Sure, we'll go get ice cream."

"So you'll call Mother?" Joshua asked Damon.

"Yeah," Damon nodded. "And I have another call to make, too."

* * *

><p>"She's <em>what<em>?" Roxie shouted into the phone. "Damon, what do you mean mom is pregnant?"

"Just what I said," Damon replied. "She's about four months along. And apparently, she and your uncle are very happy about it."

"Well, I'm not!" Roxie raged. "They didn't even stop to think about how _I _would feel before they went and did this. I mean, it's bad enough that Uncle Elijah conned Mom into leaving Dad. Now they're having a kid? For crying out loud! I bet Dad's just a wreck."

"I'm not so sure about that," Damon said.

"Of course he is!" Roxie barked. "What do _you_ know?" She set the phone down hard in the cradle.

"Bad phone call?" Olivia asked.

Roxie nodded. "The worst. Mom's pregnant. _Again. _It's like she's a god damn baby machine or something!"

Anna poked her head in the room. "Roxie, did I hear you say your mom is pregnant?"

Roxie nodded. "Isn't it revolting?"

Anna shook her head. "No, not really. I think it's wonderful! First Mother makes it so Father is no longer a threat and then Selina and Elijah are expecting a baby? Wonderful things just keep happening for me!"

Roxie growled and stood up. "I'm going out," she said. "I need some air."

"So," Olivia said, turning to Anna, you say your father isn't able to cause trouble for anyone any more..."

* * *

><p>Roxie ended up at a park and breathing heavily, she took a seat on a bench. A few minutes later, a very pregnant young woman sat next to her. "Hello," the woman said. "Lovely day, isn't it?"<p>

Roxie nodded. "Yeah. The best," she said flatly.

The woman noticed Roxie eyeing her stomach. "I'm due in five months," she said. "The father is my second husband. He was in the army and he died. This baby is all I have left of him. All I have in the _world_, really. I just moved here so I have no friends or job or anything."

"Well, that's real sad," Roxie said. "You know what might cheer you up? Looking at this fountain over here. It's beautiful. And people throw change in. You could probably just reach in and take it. I doubt they care. And there's a design on the fountain floor but you have to lean in real close to see it."

The woman leaned forward and that was when Roxie shoved her head in the water. She struggled and thrashed, but Roxie, feeling very powerful, held her down, her hands around the woman's neck. Finally, with a gurgle, her movements ceased and Roxie pushed the body into the fountain. "You're as bad as my mother," she said coldly, her eyes narrowed. "Good thing no one will miss you."

* * *

><p>"Mommy!" Sam said as he ran at her with his arms out.<p>

"Hi, Sammy!" Selina said, giving him a big hug. "I've missed you so much!"

"I missed you too!" Sam said. "I thought you were gonna live here!"

"Why would you think that?" Selina asked.

"You and Daddy _kissed_," Sam said.

Selina sighed. "Sammy, I love your daddy very much, but I can't live here with you."

"Why not?" Sam asked.

"It's complicated," she said. "But that doesn't mean I don't love you. I love you a lot. In fact, you need to come and see me at my house. I'll talk to your daddy about that."

"First we have something to tell you," Damon said, appearing with Lucy.

"It's really good," Lucy said, grinning.

"What is it?" Selina asked, sitting on the sofa. "Why's everyone being so secretive?"

"We have to tell you about Sam's imaginary friend," Lucy said. "But he's _real_!"

"You have an imaginary friend, Sammy?" Selina asked. "That's nice. What's your imaginary friend's name?"

Slowly, Joshua began to manifest himself in front of his mother. "Oh, my god," Selina said. "What's that?"

"That's him," Lucy said. "He's a ghost. His name is Joshua."

"It's _what_?" Selina said.

"Joshua Salvatore," he said when he'd fully appeared. "Hello, Mother. I hope this isn't too much of a shock."

"Oh, my god," Selina said. "Oh, my god. How? What? How?"

"He protects me from Lucy," Sam said. "He's a good brother."

Selina's mouth was opening and closing rapidly.

"Are you all right?" Damon asked her. "Say something!" They watched her for a few seconds. Then, she burst into tears and ran out of the room.

"Can we get ice cream now?" Lucy asked Damon.

"All right," Damon nodded. "But you have to promise not to sneak into my bedroom tonight like you have been."

"I'm not sneaking!" Lucy said. "I'm really scared."

"Never mind," Damon said. "Let's just go."


	32. Trick? Or Treat?

"I realize this is a shock, Mother," Joshua said. "And this probably wasn't the best way to tell you, but-"

Selina sat down on the bed and sniffled. "I'm fine. But you're damn right it's a shock. What are you _doing_ here?"

"I'm here to watch over Sam," Joshua said. "And keep Father in line concerning you. Be his conscience, if you will."

Selina nodded. "Sammy _does_ need someone to watch over him," she said. "Lord knows I haven't been doing such a good job of it."

Joshua sat next to her. "Well, you do the best you can, don't you?"

Selina shrugged. "Well, maybe not. I don't know. I suppose I could do better."

"Well, why don't you?" Joshua asked. "Is it because of Father? Are you worried about him?"

Selinan nodded. "Maybe that's it. I mean, I don't do anything to encourage him anymore, but he's having such a hard time letting me go. And I don't want to hurt him, so I have this idea that the best thing to do is stay away so he's not tempted, even though I _know_ that's not good for Sam."

"Well, I have to say this," Joshua said. "If you don't put aside your reservations about Father and pay attention to Sam _now_, you're gonna regret it later. Trust me you will."

"What can I do?" Selina asked. "I mean, I Sammy I'd arrange play dates over at the house more often, but _look_ at me. Pretty soon, I'm not gonna have time."

"Well, make time," Joshua said. "I know Sam wasn't a child you planned for, but that doesn't mean he should have less attention than the others."

"He lives at a different house than the others!" Selina said. "And you can blame your father for that."

"Well, you have a car and drive, don't you?" Joshua asked. "How hard is it to get in your car and drive over here a few times a week? Or bring him to you?"

Selina sighed. "It's not." She got up and went with Joshua back into the living room. "You want to come back to my house with me, Sammy?"

Sam shook his head. "You don't want me to! You're just asking cause he said you should!"

"That's not true!" Selina said. "I'm asking cause I want you to come! I really do! So are you coming or not?"

Sam nodded. "Okay, I'll come."

"Not the most gracious invitation ever, but at least you got your point across," Joshua said.

* * *

><p>"So what do you want to do?" Sam asked.<p>

"I don't know," Selina said. "What do _you_ want to do, Sammy?"

"Tell me how come Lucy is staying at my house," Sam said.

Selina cleared her throat and sat down on the sofa. "Come here and sit next to me," she said.

He reluctantly went to sit down. She pulled him to her, putting her arm around him. "So why is it?" He asked.

"Well, you know how Lucy is so far ahead in school?" Selina asked. "Well, she needs to be able to concentrate on her school work and I'm gonna have a baby soon, so I though that based on past experience, where having a baby makes me go insane, I thought it would be best to get Lucy out of the way for awhile."

"Why do you need to have a baby?" He asked. "You already don't pay enough attention to me. This'll just make it worse."

"Well that's why I wanted you to come here," Selina said. "So we could talk about that. What would you say if you and I had two days a week where it was just us spending time together? No Lucy, no baby, no one else but you and me?"

"I like that," he said. "But will you do it? Don't lie to me."

"I _swear_ I'll do it," Selina said. "And I'm sorry I haven't been. In a way, you're more special to me than all the others."

"I am?" Sam asked, hope shining in his eyes. "Why?"

"Well, you're a lot like Joshua. I wasn't there for _him_ either. You're my second chance and I'm blowing it."

"Why weren't you around for Joshua?" Sam asked. "Did another baby distract you then too?"

Selina shook her head. "No. After I had Joshua, that's when your daddy and I became vampires. The man who turned me sent your brother to live with your grandfather, who wasn't exactly a vampire fan, so the chances of me just strolling into his house and saying 'Hey, would you mind letting me see my kid?' were next to nothing. In the end, I just stayed away for a long time. Joshua was eighteen years old when I saw him again."

"Was he scared of you?" Sam asked.

Selina shook her head. "No, he wasn't. I was more scared of him, actually. I shouldn't say scared. Surprised? Shocked? I thought he was your daddy at first."

"You still remembered Daddy?" Sam asked.

"Oh, of course!" Selina said. "It's very difficult to forget someone like your daddy. Anyway, Joshua and I talked for awhile and he told me that if I ever got lonely, all I had to do was come and find him and he'd take care of me. It took awhile for me to take him up on the offer, but eventually I did. I got into a serious relationship with Lucy's uncle Aleksandr and neither of us knew the other one was a vampire, and then one day, out of the blue after ten years, he left me. That's when I went and found Joshua, who was married with kids of his own, and I lived with them for...oh, how long was it? Almost fifty years."

"Wow!" Sam said. "That's a long time!"

Selina kissed his forehead. "I know it might seem like it to you, but in the grand scheme of things, it really wasn't."

"Let's do something fun!" Sam said.

"Like what?" Selina asked.

"Play war!" Sam said. "Daddy tells me lots of stories about war."

"So not the card game, then?" Selina asked.

Sam shook his head. "No! Do you have any squirt guns?"

Selina shrugged. "I don't know. But I bet there's a place where we could get some for cheap."

"Okay," Sam said. "My gun is full and here's yours, Mommy. Let's get squirting!" He handed Selina her gun and Selina put a hand on his wrist. "Just a minute," she said. "I have to do one more thing first. You can help me."

"What is it?" Sam asked, following Selina up the stairs to the linen closet. She grabbed a few large beach towels and handed them to him. "Take these downstairs, would you?" She asked.

"What are we going to do with them?" Sam asked. "Are they for if we get wet?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "They're to cover up the leather chairs so they _don't_ get wet. Elijah's very serious about keeping his chairs dry." They went downstairs and covered the two leather chairs with towels and then commenced to squirting, and didn't stop until they heard a sharp, "What in the world is going on in here?"

Selina turned and saw Elijah standing open-mouthed with his hand on the archway that led into the kitchen. "Hi," she said. "Sammy and me are playing war."

"In the house?" Elijah asked, his eye beginning to twitch. "Why couldn't you do it outside?"

"What fun would that be?" Selina asked. "There are more hiding spots _inside_."

"But what about the furniture?" Elijah asked.

"I covered up your chairs for you because I know you have a thing about them getting wet," Selina said. "So they should be okay."

"And what about this lamp?" He asked, holding up what remained of a small antique desk lamp. "It was an antique!"

"I know, but you hate it. You've said that a thousand times," Selina told him. "When I broke it, I didn't think you'd mind so much."

Elijah rubbed his forehead. "I know the two of you are having fun, but this has to stop now. Can't you think of something else to do?"

Selina sighed. "I guess."  
>"Like taking a nap," Elijah said. "Naps are fun."<p>

"Naps are _not_ fun," Sam said. "Naps are boring!"

"Well, doesn't your father ever make you take naps?" Elijah asked him.

"He makes me have quiet time, but I don't have to take a nap if I don't want to," Sam said.

"Well then how about you have your quiet time?" Elijah replied. "Before anything else in this house can get ruined."

"Fine," Sam said.

He walked out of the living room and Elijah gave Selina a look. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Of course I'm okay. You'd know it if I wasn't okay. Look, I know you might not be thrilled about Sam, but I really think I need to pay more attention to him, you know? And it's not like he's moving in or anything."

Elijah nodded. "Well, it's good that you are making more of an effort with him. I'm proud of you. But in the future, may I humbly ask that you do not have squirt gun wars in the house anymore?"

"Okay," Selina said. "If we do something like that, we'll do it outside."

He kissed her hand. "Thank you," he said.

"Would you like me to make you something?" She asked. "Have you eaten?"

"I'm fine," he said. "I think I'll just go in the library and read my paper."

"Save it for me, would you?" She asked. "I haven't read it today either. And don't throw the comics away this time!"

* * *

><p>That night, things were pretty quiet. Selina stepped out of the shower and after putting on a towel, plugged in her hair dryer and turned it on. Suddenly, there was a crash of thunder and a flash of lightining and a bang which plunged the entire house into darkness.<p>

"Oh, shit," Selina whispered. She got down on her knees and crawled over to the door, "Elijah?" She yelled. "Can you hear me? The power went out!" She heard a crash and then Elijah called back, "I know! I just tripped over the footstool. Are you all right? Did you hurt yourself?"

"No," Selina said. "I'm okay. I'll go look for that flashlight you insisted we keep in a bathroom drawer."

"Oh, no you don't!" Elijah said. "I don't want to risk you falling down and injuring yourself. You stay right where you are and _I'll _ look for the flashlight!"

Selina rolled her eyes but crawled over to the toilet, put the lid down and sat on it so that when Elijah showed up, he wouldn't find her on the floor.

"All right," he said when he showed up in the bathroom several minutes later. "Let's find the flashlight!" He found it quickly and turned it on.

"Hi," Selina said. "See? I'm not on the floor or anything. I'm fine. It happened while I was drying my hair."

"You could have been electrocuted!" Elijah said. "I mean, yes it wouldn't kill you, but it would still be very painful!"

"Relax," Selina said. "You're going to get yourself all worked up. Now what are we going to do with ourselves since we can't watch television or listen to the radio or anything? Talk?"

"I'm surprised that _that's_ the first thing that came to your mind," Elijah said. "I would have thought you'd be eager to do something other than that."

"Well if you want to spent the entire blackout in bed, I won't object," Selina told him. "I just thought we might do something a bit more creative. Like a talent show."

"A talent show?" Elijah said flatly.

"Yeah! It'll be fun!" Selina said. "We'll take the flashlights into the music room and then we can show off our talents. Like you could sing or I could recite poetry, or play the piano, or..."

Elijah sighed. "I guess it would be something to do, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah," Selina said. "And as for dinner, we'll have to get take out, since obviously the oven doesn't work."

"I think I'd rather go hungry," Elijah said. "But if you want something, don't let me stop you."

"Oh, all right," Selina said. "I assume you want to lead me to our room so I can dress before I leave the house?"

Elijah nodded. "Yes, I do. And remember to keep one hand on your towel."

She giggled and he led her to their bedroom and kept hold of the flashlight while she dressed, then he tied her shoes and led her to her car. "Be careful out there," he said.

By the time she got back with her burger and fries, he already had the music room set up. "So do you want to sing first?" He asked.

"I would actually prefer it if _you_ did," she said.

He looked hesitant. "Well, I don't know."

"Come on," she said. _"Please?_ And we can't just have the place look like it normally does. We need atmosphere!" She pulled him along behind her as she went back to their bedroom and rummaged around under the bed until she finally found what she was looking for.

"What's _that_?" Elijah asked her.

She held it up. "It's a battery-operated disco ball you put on the floor and it flashes different colored lights," she said. "Now we just need a hair brush to use as a microphone and everything will be perfect."

She went to root around in the drawers in the bathroom and found one. "Hold this, would you?" She asked him.

"I am _not_ singing a rock song into a hair brush," Elijah said. "It's absolutely ridiculous."

"Well, what else can we do?" Selina asked. "We don't have a lot of options. Don't make me have to get you drunk first because I will."

"I don't think that will be necessary," he said.

"Well, fine," she said, holding out the hairbrush. "Take it."

He gave her a look and took the brush. They headed back to the music room. Selina put the disco ball on the floor and turned it on, making circles of rainbow colored lights go all over the walls.

"So what are you gonna sing?" Selina asked, taking a seat on the piano bench. "I can't wait to hear."

"Well, I don't know," he said. "What do _you _think I should sing?"

Selina looked at him thoughtfully. "Bon Jovi would be good for you. Maybe 'You Give Love a Bad Name'? I could write down the words for you."

"I know _some_ Bon Jovi songs," Elijah said, hitching his shoulders. "Give me a little credit, will you?"

"Well, okay," Selina said. "I'm sorry. And take off your shirt too. You'll be more convincing that way."

Elijah rolled his eyes and took off his shirt, leaving him wearing jeans and socks. Feeling a little foolish, he picked up the hairbrush and began singing 'You Give Love a Bad Name'.

Selina cheered for him and at one point in the song, he felt something soft bounce off his chest and fall to the floor. He stopped singing and looked down at what hit him. He picked it up and stroked it for a little bit before he finally realized what he was holding on to.

"Selina, are these your _panties_?" He asked her, looking shocked.

She shrugged. "Hey, girls throw their panties at rock stars all the time. I wanted you to have the full experience. Incidently, those are the ones I was wearing, so obviously, I'm not wearing any right now."

"Well do you want them back?" He asked her. She stood up and slowly advanced toward him. "Do you _want me_ to want them back?"

He looked down at the ball of fabric that he held tightly in his fist and then found his eyes wandering toward her skirt. A noise escaped his throat.

Selina grinned. "Are you all right?"

He swallowed. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Selina asked. "It's okay if you're not."

The more he stared at her skirt, the shallower his breathing became. Finally, he backed her up against the piano, kissing her deeply with one hand around her waist and the other going up her leg and thigh.. She reached behind her and unzipped her skirt, letting it fall to the floor. She kicked it aside and then let him go for a moment to get down on her knees and crawl under the piano. "There," she said. "This will be more comfortable." Elijah crawled beside her and began rubbing her back. He removed her shirt, then her bra, and before they both knew it, they were rolling around under the piano, yelling and banging into the legs.

At one point, Selina made a sound that was quite different from the ones she usually made during lovemaking. It made Elijah pause.

"What's the matter?" He asked. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," she said. "I'm fine. The baby just kicked. It's nothing bad."

"Are you serious?" Elijah said. He put a hand on her stomach and soon he felt something. "Was that it?" He asked her. "Did he do it again?"

"What do you mean 'he'?" Selina asked. "This could be a girl, you know. We'll find out in a month."

"Really?" Elijah said. "That's not much time."

Selina kissed him. "I know, right?" She sat up and hit her head on the piano. "Damn it, ow!"

"What do you say we get out from under here, huh?" Elijah said.

Just as they were crawling out from under the piano, the power came back on.

"Well, that's good," Selina said.

"You want a girl?" Elijah told her.

"Well, I don't know what I want," she said. "I do like boys. I tend to bond better with my sons than I do with my daughters. Or maybe it was only Roxie I had a problem bonding with. I mean Lucy and I get on all right. And me and Lenora."

"Speaking of Lenora," Elijah said, "how is she?"

* * *

><p>"Look at this, Daddy!" Lenora said.<p>

Adrian looked up from reading the paper and snorted. Lenora was struggling to hold on to a grumpy looking Rusty who was dressed in a tutu and trying like mad to scramble out of her arms.

"What did you do to Rusty?" He asked. Then he noticed scratch marks on her face and arms. "And what happened to you? Why are you all scratched up?"

"Rusty and me were playing fashion show," Lenora said.

"Well, I don't think Rusty likes being dressed in girly clothes," Adrian said. "Why don't you go take the tutu off him?"

Lenora sighed. "Okay."

She went back to her room and after a little while Adrian heard a shriek. He ran to Lenora's room and found her sobbing and sitting next to a tall, gangly young man. "Who the hell are you?" Adrian asked him.

The young man looked up at him. "My name is Adam," he said. "Adam Caulfield. You wouldn't happen to know where Anna is, would you?"

"Anna who?" Adrian asked.

Adam shrugged. "I don't know. She only ever told me her name was Anna and she was so pretty that I never asked for anything more."

"Daddy this is _Rusty_!" Lenora said, becoming hysterical. "Rusty is a _person_."

Adrian got down on his knees in front of his daughter. "It's all right," he said. "We'll get this all sorted out, I promise." He looked at Adam. "Stand up," he said. "We'll need to get you some clothes first of all. I don't know if mine will fit you properly, but they're better than nothing."

Just then, they heard the front door open. "I'm home!" Helene called out. "Adrian? Lenora? Where are you?"

"Go to your mother," Adrian said to Lenora. "And bring her in here when I call you."

"All right," Lenora said, running out of the room.

"There you are!" Helene said. "Where's your daddy?"

"He's in my room," Lenora said. "But you can't go in there until he says."

"Why not?" Helene asked.

"He's with Rusty," Lenora said. "Rusty is a person now. And he wasn't wearing any clothes!"

"How did Rusty become a person?" Helene asked Lenora. "Were you waving your hand around again?"

"No," Lenora shook her head. "Rusty bit me and I said 'Ouch!' and my hand jumped and boom! He was a person!"

"Lenora!" Adrian called. "You can bring your mother in now."

Lenora led Helene to her bedroom where Adam, now dressed, sat next to Adrian at her little tea table.

"So you're Rusty," Helene said to him.

"Well, actually my name is Adam," he said, pushing his dark hair back and his glasses back up his nose. "You're Helene, right?"

"How do you know that?" Helene asked. "I'm sure we've never met before."

"This is _Rusty!_" Lenora repeated. "Didn't you hear me say that, Mama?"

"Yes, Lenora, I heard." Helene said.

"I'm a millionaire, you know," Adam said to her. "Actually, a _multi_-millionaire. That impressed my girlfriend at first but then she got tired of me for some reason."

Helene looked at him confusedly. "You had a girlfriend?" She asked.

He nodded. "Her name was Anna. I'm looking for her now. You wouldn't happen to know where she lives, would you?"

"This is weird," Helene said, looking at Adrian. "I mean, animal to human transformation is possible, but they never are able to have complex conversations because they still keep their animal brains, you know? I've not met one transformed animal who said stuff like 'I'm a millionaire.' Animals don't value money!"

"Wait a minute," Adrian said. "Adam, what did this Anna look like?"

"Oh," Adam said, "Tiny, very pretty, blonde hair, blue eyes, short temper-"

"_Aunt_Anna!" Adrian said, slapping his forehead. "How could I be so stupid? Mom got you from Aunt Anna!"

Adam brightened. "So you _do_ know her!"

Adrian nodded. "Yeah! And I can even take you to where she lives."

He and Adam got in the car and drove to Anna's house, knocking on the door several times before realizing that no one was home.

"That's right," Adrian said. "She's in Vegas. I'll give her a call."

* * *

><p>"Would you get that?" Anna called to Stefan as she painted her toenails. "I'm busy at the moment."<p>

Stefan picked up the phone. "Hello?" He said.

"Uncle Stefan, it's Adrian. Is Aunt Anna there? I have something I need to ask her."

"She can't come to the phone right now, but I'll take a message," Stefan told him.

"Well," Adrian said, "Would you tell her that I have her ex-boyfriend Adam Caulfield with me and I would like to know if it's okay for him to stay at your house."

"Sure," Stefan said, his hand tightening on the phone. "I'll ask her just that." But instead of doing so, he threw her phone against the wall with a growl.

"What's wrong with you?" Anna asked, coming out of the bathroom.

"Adrian called," Stefan said through his teeth. "He wanted to know if you'd be okay with an ex-boyfriend of yours staying at our house."

"Which one?" Anna asked. "Did he say?"

"Adam Caulfield," Stefan said. "Do you remember him?"

Anna nodded. "He was annoying. That's why I turned him into a dog and shipped him off to Selina's." She paused. "Wait. Did you say he's _not_ a dog anymore?"

Stefan shook his head. "Apparently not."

Anna sucked in her breath. "Oh, boy."

* * *

><p>Three months later, it was time to trick or treat. Selina and Elijah had gone out for Selina's birthday and to celebrate that they were having a boy, and Damon had a date, so Lucy, Sam and Lenora were at the Halloween party of one of Damon's neighbors. When everybody had their candy the three kids sat comparing their loot.<p>

"I like the peanut butter candy," Lenora said to Lucy. "Can I have yours?"

"No," Lucy said. "I like it too!"

"Here," Sam said, dropping some mints and a toothbrush into her bucket. "You can have that."

"No!" Lenora shook her head. "I want the peanut butter candy!" She glared at them for a few moments before waving her hand. Suddenly, they began to shoot up in height, their features changing. When it was all over, they shifted uncomfortably in their tight costumes, then looked at one another and screamed.

"Do you see what I see?" Sam asked Lucy.

"What do you see?" Lucy asked weakly.

Sam pinched her cheek. "Oh, my god. this is real." He looked down. "You've got a nice rack all of a sudden."

"You say that again and I'm going to slap you!" Lucy said. She dragged Sam over to a hallway mirror and they both stared at themselves. "What did she _do_ to us?" Lucy asked.

"I think it's obvious," Sam said. "Lenora is a witch. She got mad because we wouldn't give her our candy and put some sort of spell on us that made us older."

"Yeah," Lenora sauntered up to them, holding her candy plus theirs. "Big kids don't _need_ candy. Now it's _all_ mine!" She giggled and ran off.

"So what do we do?" Lucy asked. "Should we get out of here?"

"Sure," Sam nodded. "I bet I could find parties that are less of a drag than this one!" He took off and Lucy thought to herself that she had to go see Damon. That was the best thing to do at the moment. That and get out of these too tight clothes.

* * *

><p>Damon had just gotten out of the shower when he heard the door to his bedroom open. He dried off his hair, wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out of the bathroom, seeing something that made him start violently.<p>

"Hi, Damon," Lucy said to him. She stood in front of him naked and dripping wet, looking much older than she had when he'd dropped her off at the Kintzer's Halloween party. "You wouldn't happen to have any shampoo I can use, would you?"


	33. Changes

"Who _are_ you?" Damon asked after blinking several times didn't make the naked girl go away.

"It's me, Lucy," Lucy said. "I know this might seem a little strange, but there was an incident at the Kintzers' Halloween party and Sam and I ticked off Lenora and she made us big so she could take all our candy."

"You're talking like a regular person!" Damon said.

"Well, duh!" Lucy said. "How else would I talk?"

"Oh, I don't know," Damon said.

"Are you all right?" Lucy asked him. "You don't look well at all. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Yes," Damon said. "You can put on some clothes and then the two of us are gonna drive to Helene's and see if we can't get this whole mess sorted out."

* * *

><p>"Damon!" Helene said when she opened the door. "Is everything okay?"<p>

Damon sighed. "Well, yes and no. Look, I know you and Adrian are having a party, but I really think there's something you need to see. Could you come out here a moment, please?"

"Sure," Helene said. "Damon, what is the matter? You seem nervous."

Damon shook his head and tried to stay relaxed. "I'm not nervous. Why would I be nervous?"

Helene shrugged. "I don't know. You'd have to answer that."

Just then, Lucy appeared. "Hi, Helene! I bet you don't recognize me!"

"No," Helene shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't." She pushed the hood off her Red Riding Hood costume to get a better look at the girl. "Who are you?"

"I'm Lucy!" She said.

Helene gave Damon a look. "This is _some_ trick you're pulling and let me say you have a lot of nerve!"

"It's not a trick!" Lucy said earnestly. "Sam, Lenora and I were at the Kintzer's Halloween party and after Trick or Treat, when we wouldn't give her our peanut butter candy, she waved her hands and all of a sudden, Sam and I grew up."

"Well, where's Lenora now?" Helene asked. "Still at the Kintzers'?"

Damon nodded. "I think so."

Helene nodded. "Let's go. We'll take my car."

"Thanks for letting me sit in back," Lucy said to Helene.

"You're welcome," Helene told her. "Although I don't know why you're thanking me. When we get Lenora, you and she and Damon will all be squished together."

"Oh, I know," Lucy said. And she whispered in Damon's ear, "I can't wait for that," and ran her hand over his thigh.

He groaned..

"Is everything okay back there?" Helene asked.

"Yeah," Lucy said. "Terrific."

"You need to behave yourself," Damon whispered.

"Why?" Lucy asked.

"Just because," Damon said. "You see this armrest that divides the seats here? It's the border. You cross the border, you're gonna be in trouble, okay?"

Lucy crossed her arms, sighed and looked out the window. "Fine," she said. "Whatever."

* * *

><p>"Where's Lenora?" Helene asked Mrs. Kintzer when they arrived at her house.<p>

Mrs. Kintzer pointed. "Out back on the swingset with Joey. Do you want me to go get her for you?"

Helene shook her head. "No, thank you. I can do it." She, Damon and Lucy trooped to the backyard and found Lenora.

"Mommy!" Lenora said, running toward her. "Look at all the candy I got!"

"It's not all hers," Lucy said testily. "Some of it is mine!"

Lenora grinned and shook her head. "Not anymore!"

Helene got down on her knees in front of Lenora. "Did you to do something to Lucy?" She asked.

Lenora nodded. "Yes, I did. I thought I wanted her to be bigger and I raised my hand and she was!"

"Well, change her back," Helene said. "That wasn't very nice to do to her, Lenora Rose."

Lenora shook her head. "I don't want to!"

"Well you have to," Helene said insistantly.

"I don't _want_ to!" Lenora said, getting right up in her mother's face.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Lucy said. "If she doesn't want to change me back now, it's no rush. It doesn't matter."

"Well, it does to me," Helene said. She muttered a spell and sent it in Lucy's direction, but nothing happened.

"What was that supposed to have done?" Damon asked.

"Make her small again," Helene said. "But it didn't work."

"And would you like me to explain _why_?" a voice asked. Suddenly, Hazel appeared in the backyard and walked toward the group, her long blonde hair trailing behind her.

"Please do," Helene said. "We have ourselves a situation here. Lenora did a spell, but I can't undo it."

Hazel looked at Lenora with fondness. "Oh, a little one learning how to use her powers! This is an exciting time for you," she said to Helene. "You should cherish it."

"And I will after we get this whole situation sorted out," Helene said. She looked at Lenora. "Tell Hazel what happened before you did the spell on Lucy," she said.

"I wanted their candy and they wouldn't give it to me, so I thought for them to get bigger and they did." Lenora said.

"So you actually thought you wanted them to get bigger?" Hazel said to her. "It wasn't just an accident."

Lenora shook her head. "No."

Hazel sucked in her breath. "I was afraid of that."

"Why?" Helene asked. "What can we do to fix it?"

"Nothing," Hazel said. "Lenora consciously did a spell, so she's the only one who can end it. Now if it had just been the result of a sudden hand movement, then the spell could be undone by you, but since she consciously thought of the spell, and something like aging takes more than just a twitch of the hand to accomplish, it can only be _undone_ by her when she comes to that decision. That's all I can tell you. I'm sorry."

She left and Helene looked at Lenora. "I'm going to ask you one last time to undo the spell you put on Lucy."

"_And _Sam," Lucy added. "I don't know where he is now, probably somewhere involving girls." She sighed. "This is so horrible. I had a hard enough time making friends in second grade. High school will be even _more _difficult."

"I'm so sorry about this, Lucy," Helene said, touching her shoulder. "We'll get it fixed somehow."

Lucy nodded. "Thank you. But honestly, I'm not too worried. Take all the time in the world that you need."

Helene nodded. "It might take awhile from the looks of things." She took Lenora's hand. "I think we'll go home now and Lenora can think about the consequences of her actions."

"But you didn't punish me when I turned Daddy into a bird!" Lenora said. "What's wrong now?"

"What's wrong now is that you did that to Sam and Lucy on purpose. What happened with your daddy was an accident. There's a difference," Helene told her. "Now get in the car and let's go home."

* * *

><p>"What are you doing with all of our stuff?" Anna asked Stefan as she watched him throw their clothes into suitcases.<p>

"Packing," Stefan said shortly. "We're going home."

"Is this because of Rusty?" Anna asked. "You really don't have anything to worry about there."

"Of course I do," Stefan said. "When I told you about him, you said 'Uh-oh'. Is there something you aren't telling me?"

"Well, no!" Anna said. "And may I say it hurts me very much that you'd think something like that."

"So it's all right if I kill him when we get home?" Stefan asked. "That's the _one _reason I let him stay at our house: so I would know where he was when we got back and I could kill him."

"That seems a bit much," Anna said. "Rusty is harmless, really."

"Do you still like him?" Stefan asked.

Anna scoffed. "Of course I don't like him! That was the whole reason I turned him into a dog in the first place. Because I was done with him and he would just _not go away._"

"Even so," Stefan said, "We're going."

"Going where?" Olivia asked.

"Stefan thinks we need to go home," Anna told her. "And if I want to be totally honest, we probably _should_ go home. Selina's pregnant and I don't know how far along she is, but I don't want to miss the baby being born."

Olivia looked at her in disgust. "You've gone soft, both of you. At least I still have Roxie. _She's_ willing to go the extra mile and not be a killjoy."

"Well, you two have a good time," Anna said. "This has been fun."

"Yeah, yeah," Olivia said sourly. "Whatever."

* * *

><p>Elijah woke up, and feeling a rush of panic, felt around on the mattress beside him. Selina wasn't there. He got up and began walking around the house looking for her. He finally found her in the living room, sitting in the easy chair, flipping through the television channels.<p>

"What are you doing out here, darling?" He asked her. "Come back to bed with me."

Selina threw the remote on the floor. "I would if I could but I'm too fat to sleep now. I'm too fat to do much of anything."

Elijah walked behind her and began rubbing her shoulders. "Oh, no you're not. Don't be silly. You have to sleep. This is the third night we've been through this and it worries me."

Selina scoffed. "Well, lord knows we need to be concerned about what's going on with _you_, I mean it must be so hard to walk around looking hot day after day."

"Well, thank you," Elijah said.

Selina's eyes narrowed. "Wipe that stupid smirk off your face and leave me the hell alone! You'd do better to go to bed with a beach ball at this point."

Elijah sighed and went to sit on the sofa, patting the cushion beside him. "Come here and sit by me. I won't leave until you do."

"You'll have to help me up," Selina said.

Elijah helped her out of the chair and led her over to the sofa. "Just think," he said to her. "Only two more months."

Selina groaned. "It's taking forever!"

"Lean against me and just close your eyes," he said.

She looked at him suspiciously and then leaned her head against his chest. Her eyes, which had dark circles under them, closed. He ran his fingers through her hair and held her until she woke up again.

"I'm sorry," she said when she looked at him. "I was totally ridiculous last night, but you handled it well."

"Oh, it's all right," he said. "No one can blame you in your current condition."

Selina's lip slowly began to jut out. "It's just that I feel so fat. I _am_ fat, for crying out loud! You can't say I'm not."

"All right, come here," he said. He led her to their bedroom and stood next to her in front of the floor length mirror at the back of the large closet. He undressed in front of her and she whimpered. "What is your _problem_?" She asked. "Are you trying to flaunt your not-fatness in front of me? How horrible are you?" She gave him a sharp slap across his face and then he pulled her to him, bringing her as close as he could, which wasn't very close, and kissed her deeply.

"What did you do _that_ for?" She asked in genuine bewilderment when he pulled away.

"Because I wanted to," he said. "But do I really need a reason to kiss you?"

"But I'm _fat_!" She repeated as if that would convince him.

"I don't think so," he said. "I don't think you've really looked at yourself." He turned her toward the mirror and she closed her eyes tight. He began kissing slowly down her neck and sneaking his hand under her top to rub her stomach and as she relaxed, he eased her shirt off, then her panties, so that she was as naked as he was.

"Open your eyes," he said, whispering it against her ear.

"I'm scared," she said.

"Do you trust me?" He asked her.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and stared into the mirror. "I don't see it," she said.

"What would it take?" He asked. "What would help you see it? Because I want to make love to you so badly, but I won't until you feel comfortable with it."

Selina took a deep breath. "I don't think I'll understand it, but if you want to go to bed I won't say no."

He grinned and kissed her hand, then up her arm and across her shoulder, then down to stroke her breasts.

"Can I shut my eyes again?" She asked. "It's not because I'm scared, I promise."

He led her over to the bed and helped her get on, then reached under her pillow. "I got you a little present," he said. "I meant to give it to you after we found out we were going to have Gregory, but I figured now is a much better time."

Selina opened her eys and saw that he was holding a square jewelry box. She opened it and gasped. It was a large aquamarine stone surrounded by diamonds on a silver chain. "This is _beautiful_," she whispered. "Thank you. And I'm so glad we took your mother's advice about the name. It's the least we could do after she saved me like she did."

"There was one made of rose quartz that you'd have gotten if the baby had been a girl," he said. "Can I put it on you?"

"Yes," she nodded. He put the necklace on her and the two of them made love again. Afterward, Selina felt a warm glow inside. She felt beautiful, and loved, as she always did during the times she got to be one with her whole family. Even if it _did_ take some convincing to get that way. That and she felt much more comfortable making love here at home than she did anywhere else.

* * *

><p>"You seem less than your usual cheerful self," Klaus noted when Caroline sat down across from him in their booth at the diner where they usually met. He'd take her somewhere nicer eventually, but for now, the simple place served its purpose well.<p>

Caroline shook her head. "Oh, don't get me started. Do _not_ get me started."

"Well, if you don't want to talk about it," Klaus said, "I won't push you."

"It's Selina's mother, okay?" Caroline burst out. "I listened to Selina complain for _years _about what a big pain in the butt her mother was and I always thought she was exaggerating. But she wasn't! Now I agree with every word she said."

Klaus nodded. "I've met Amelia. She certainly _is _a piece of work."

Caroline scoffed. "That's putting it kindly. She's been judging me for coming out with you. She's saying I haven't mourned for Tyler enough. But I'd like to know why that's any of her business. My mourning process should be my business alone, shouldn't it?"

"Well, of course," Klaus said. "When you lose someone important to you, it's natural to feel sad about their loss, but it's also natural to want to move on and live your life. That's what strong people do, Caroline."

Caroline nodded. "I know, right? So I'm not going to take it anymore. I've decided to move out. But that means I've got no place to stay. I suppose I could always get a motel room and compel management to let me stay as long as I need to."

"You _could_," Klaus said. "Or you could come and stay with me. It wouldn't put me out any. I live alone and have lots of space."

"Are you _positive_ it wouldn't put you out any?" Caroline asked. "I wouldn't want to be an inconvenience."

Klaus shook his head. "Oh, you could never be an inconvenience. So, when should I come get your things from Amelia's?"

"As soon as possible," Caroline said. "I'm_ begging_ you."

* * *

><p>Vince looked sourly at the television. He'd been watching the news every day Roxie had been in Vegas and it had been <em>pretty <em>quiet except for the atrocious murder of a pregnant woman whose body had been found in the fountain of a park near the location of the hotel Roxie was staying at. And a few days later, two more women were found drowned in hotel pools in California.

"So have you heard anything from Roxie?" Tony asked. "She's been gone for _months_. Do you think she's even planning to come back at all?"

"I hope so," Vince said. "But part of me really isn't sure."

"What makes you say that?" Tony asked. "In her own weird way, she _does_ love you."

"Yeah, she does," Charlie said. "And why would she leave the one guy who's actually shown her any sort of love since her parents split up? That would be a stupid move even for her."

"I tell you what," Vince said. "I'll give her a week and if she doesn't come back, I'll go wherever she is and _make _her come back. She's already killed three people. I'm not gonna let this go on just because she can't deal with the fact that her parents have separated. Somebody needs to sit her down and talk some sense into her. Maybe I should take her away from here, to somewhere quiet and isolated."

"And that's where you're gonna kill her?" Tony asked.

"No!" Vince shook his head. "I'm not gonna kill her!"

"Who did she go to Vegas with?" Charlie asked.

Vince shrugged. "I don't know _exactly_. At least her aunt and uncle. And her Mom's old friend Olivia."

Charlie's eyes narrowed. "Olivia? I hate her so much! Ever since Roxie met her, she threw me aside and it's like she's completely forgotten about me. But what's so special about _Olivia_ I would like to know."

* * *

><p>Roxie drove up to her Father's house and parked in the driveway, taking note of the new sporty compact car in the driveway. Her father must have bought it. She got out of the car and went up the front steps, letting herself in with her key.<p>

"Daddy?" She called. "I'm back from Vegas and I brought you a present! Daddy?"

Just then, someone came toward her. "He's busy," she said. "Can I do something for you-"

Roxie narrowed her eyes when she saw who it was. "It's _you_!" she cried. "What are _you_ doing in my father's house?"

"He invited me to stay," Caroline said. "If you have a problem with that, take it up with him."

"Oh, you just bet I will," Roxie said stiffly as she strode away. Then she turned back. "Where is he?"

"Upstairs," Caroline said.

Roxie nodded. "Right." She strode up the stairs, opening every door on the upper floor until she finally found the one her father occupied. "What are you doing?" She asked him.

"I'm fixing up this room," he said to her. "I've asked Caroline to move in with me and I thought this room would be a good fit for her."

"Even though it's _my_ room?" Roxie asked.

"It's not your room anymore!" Klaus said. "You moved out! You haven't slept here in ages!"

"But it's still my space," Roxie said. "And I'm _not_ gonna see it handed over to some dimwit just because you want to get in her pants!"

Klaus' gaze become hard. "That isn't why I invited her at all," he said. "She had a falling out with Selina's mother and now she doesn't have any place else to go. And since I'm all alone here, I figured it woudn't hurt to ask. So I did and she accepted."

Just then, Caroline knocked on the side of the door. "I'm just wondering," she said, "How much rent you're planning on charging me," she said.

"Oh, I couldn't charge you a thing," he said. "It's my pleasure to have you."

"All right," Caroline said. "I just thought I'd check."

"At least charge her _something_," Roxie said once Caroline was gone. "If you don't, it really _does_ seem like all you want to do is get into her pants."

"You should probably go back home and see Vince," Klaus said. "I bet he'll want to know that you got back safely."

Roxie looked at him for a long moment and then got up to go peer out into the hall way, watching Caroline as she came up the stairs. "You know, you really _are_ shameless," she said. She left the room and walked toward the stairs, casually bumping Caroline, who was carrying a load of things. This caused Caroline to lose her balance and fall, sending clothes and knickknacks all over the landing and making Caroline topple down the stairs. Just as Roxie reached the bottom landing, she peered down at her. "My, you _are_ clumsy," she said. "Dad?" She called. "It seems Caroline has fallen down the stairs."

Klaus practically threw himself down the stairs until he was beside her. "Are you all right?" He whispered to Caroline.

She nodded as he helped her sit up. "Fine," she said weakly. "Just some bumps and bruises."

"Go home," Klaus said to Roxie.

"Okay, okay," she said. "You don't have to tell _me_ twice."

She left the house and went back to the apartment, but just as she stepped inside, someone blindfolded her, her hands were tied with vervain soaked ropes and she was picked up and carried out to a car and thrown rather carelessly into the backseat. As she struggled, she heard Vince's voice say, "Sorry we had to do this, Roxie. But it's for your own good."

* * *

><p>"Let me make this clear," Anna said. "You aren't gonna kill Rusty. I'll just turn him into a dog again and then everything will be solved."<p>

"I would much rather kill him," Stefan said.

They got inside the house and found Rusty/Adam on the sofa. "Thanks for letting me stay here," he said. "You have a nice place."

"Well I'm glad you enjoyed it," Stefan said. "Because you won't be enjoying anything for long. Normally I don't ask people this, but how would you prefer to die?"

"Die?" Rusty/Adam asked, his eyes wide. "Why would you want to kill me?"

"Because he thinks you're still interested in me," Anna said.

Suddenly, Adam/Rusty's features softened. "Oh, my god," he said. "It's you." He walked toward her and went to put a hand on her face and then Stefan grabbed him and sunk his fangs into his neck, letting Adam crumple to the floor.

"Now what did you do _that_ for?" Anna asked. "I told you it was completely unnecessary!"

"Well what would you _have_ me do with him?" Stefan asked.

"Why don't you and Damon fix him up a little?" she suggested. "You know, teach him how to be cool and all that? If you do, he'll probably get interested in some other girl in no time and then you'll have nothing to worry about."

Stefan sighed. "Fine," he said. "I'll try that. But if it doesn't work and he's still after you, say, six months from now, I get to kill him."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever."

Stefan picked him up. "Help me get him into the car," he said.

When they arrived at Damon's, Stefan and Anna took Adam/Rusty out of the car and managed to get him inside and on a sofa, which was no easy task, considering he was practically dead weight.

"You go find Damon," Stefan said. "I'll watch _him._"

But before Anna could move, a girl in a bathrobe came into the living room. "Oh!" she said, pushing her blonde hair out of her eyes. "Oh, my god! Uncle Stefan, Aunt Anna! If I'd have known you were coming, I wouldn't be waltzing around the house in my bathrobe." Her cheeks reddened. "Here, just a minute. Let me go change." She scampered off, leaving Anna and Stefan alone. "Who is that?" Anna asked, turning around slowly, eyes narrowed. "Old girlfriend? Funny pet name she has for you."

Stefan was frozen to the sofa. He groaned and shut his eyes. "Not again," he said through his teeth. Pictures from several years previous began to flash through his mind: Lucy rummaging around in the refrigerator, Lucy, eating a popsicle. She had been a year old baby in an eighteen year old's body then, the result of a spell gone awry.

"It's not a pet name," Stefan said to Anna. "It's what she's always called me. That's Lucy."

Anna's eyes widened. "You mean it happened _again_?" She asked. "She's big _again_?"

Stefan nodded. "Apparently.

"So how was Vegas?" Damon asked when he appeared a few minutes later. "Did you have a good time?"

"Clearly not as good a time as you," Stefan said. "What happened to Lucy? Have you done anything you shouldn't?"

Anna looked back and forth between them and said, "You know, this is really a private matter between the two of you. I'm gonna go and see how Selina is doing. Don't forget to tell him about Adam," she said. It was part of our deal." And then she left, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

><p>"Well, oh, my god, look at you!" Anna said when Selina opened the door.<p>

"I know," Selina said. "Surprised?"

"Well, yeah," Anna said. "But really, I am _so_ happy for you!" She went inside. "Do you know what you're having?"

"A boy," Selina said. "As for names, we asked your mother and she suggested Gregory. I like it." She sat down hard on the sofa. "I just wish he'd be born already though. I feel like a whale or something."

"You're not a _whale_," Elijah said, coming to kiss the top of her head. "And look: I'm wearing the cufflinks you gave me." They were gold male and female symbols.

"I knew they would look good on you," Selina said. She turned to Anna. "So how was your trip?"

"Good," Anna said. "It was a fun time. Did you know Rusty's been turned back into a person?"

"Really?" Selina asked. "It's weird to even think of him that way. I'm so used to him being a dog." She turned to Elijah. "Speaking of which, can we get a dog? I mean, not right away of course, but eventually?"

"Perhaps," Elijah said. "But I have a sense that if I let you have a dog, I'm going to be the one who takes care of it."

"Oh, that's not even true!" Selina protested. "I'll take care of it, I promise."

"We'll see," Elijah said.

"That usually means no," Selina whispered to Anna.

Elijah looked at his sister. "Would it be an imposition to ask you to stay with us these last couple of months?"

"Of course not!" Anna said. "Why?"

"He thinks I need friends," Selina said. "Thinks I'm getting bored and restless and that I need to do something with myself."

"You know I'd be more than happy to stay," Anna said. "To tell you the truth, I'm grateful for the offer. Stefan's been in a mood ever since he found out about Rusty and now I've convinced him and Damon to teach Rusty how to be a person, you know. Maybe make him a bit suaver so he can start catching the eyes of other girls besides me."

"Well, all right," Elijah said. "That settles that, then."

* * *

><p>Two months later, Selina came into the living room where Anna was staring at the snow out the window and she said, "I have some good news and some bad news, well actually, it would only be bad news for Elijah, but-" she paused and winced, then straightened up.<p>

"What is it?" Anna said. "Are you going to have the baby? Should I call Elijah and Astrid?"

Selina took a deep breath. "I wanted to say it, but go ahead and make the calls."

By the time Astrid and Elijah had arrived at the house, Selina was already in bed and Anna was helping her with her deep breathing.

"How are we coming along?" Astrid asked. She looked Selina over and then said, "Wow, this baby isn't messing around. It's practically crowned already."

"What does that mean?" Elijah asked Selina who grabbed onto his hand and held it tight. "It means the head is coming out," Selina said. She screamed as a round of contractions overtook her, squeezing Elijah's hand so hard he felt for sure that it was broken, and then once that was over, Astrid said, "All right, go ahead and push."

Summoning all her strength, Selina pushed the baby out and his cries filled the room. Astrid smiled and took him in her arms. "I'll go wash him up," she said. "Then you can have a look at him."

"We have a baby," Selina said when she was gone. "Elijah, can you believe it? We have a baby!"

He kissed her forehead. "Thank you so much," he said. "You've given me a second chance that I never thought I would have."

"What?" Selina asked. "What does that mean?"_  
><em>


	34. Mean Acres

"Well it should be obvious what it means," Elijah said. "I've had children before, but it was years ago. I've missed it. It's nice to have the chance again. And to have the child finally be my own. Well, ours."

"Oh, I know what you mean," Selina said. When Astrid brought the baby in again, Selina took him and said, "this will just be wonderful."

Astrid grinned. "There's one thing you have to remember, though. I know you heal quickly, but just to be on the safe side, I suggest you abstain from any sexual intercourse for the next, say, six weeks."

Selina's eyes widened. "Are you kidding?"

Astrid shook her head. "But trust me, and you know this because you've been through it before: you're gonna be so tired after taking care of the baby, you won't even have the energy for sex. You'll get through it. It won't be hard."

"In spite of that bad news," Selina said, "I'd like to thank you for your help, Astrid."

Astrid nodded. "Of course. I'm honored you asked me. Now will come the interesting part: seeing how everyone else will react."

"You're worried about that?" Selina asked.

Astrid shrugged. "Well, I don't know. Klaus especially might be a worry. There might still be some bitterness there. I'll ask Alistair and report back to you."

Selina cuddled Gregory to her. "Thank you," she said.

Once Astrid was gone, Selina looked at Elijah. "Now I feel weird, you know? Like how a person feels after Christmas ends or something. Things build up to this climatic event, and then the event ends, and it's like 'What am I going to do with myself now'?"

"I think we'll have plenty to do with ourselves," Elijah said.

"Yep," Selina nodded. "Weeks of nights with no sleep. Not that that's Gregory's fault of course, but-"

"Why would you need to go night after night without sleep?" Elijah asked.

"Well, how else is he going to eat?" Selina asked. "I have to feed him."

"I could help," Elijah said.

"That's sweet," Selina told him. "But I don't know."

"Well, there are such things as bottles, aren't there?" Elijah asked. "If you put some milk in the refrigerator, I could put it in a bottle, and say, every other night, you could get a full night's sleep."

"You're serious about this, aren't you?" Selina asked, looking at him in surprise.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Elijah asked. "We're both responsible for him being here so I think it's only fair we both take care of him. Unless of course you have some objection to that."

Selina shook her head. "No, I don't. I'm totally okay with it."

* * *

><p>"How's it going?" Lucy asked. She looked at the guy who was sitting next to Damon at the table. "Who is that?"<p>

"This is your Aunt Anna's boyfriend," Damon said. "He used to be a dog or something."

Lucy's eyes widened. "Oh, my god! Rusty!" She ran over and she hugged him. "This is so cool!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Damon said, pulling her off him. "He's not for you!"

"I think somebody is a little jealous, maybe, huh?" Lucy said.

Damon scoffed. "I am not!"

Lucy began rummaging around in the refrigerator and Damon came to stand directly behind her, watching her bottom for a little while before he was finally able to come back to himself and say "What are you looking for?"

Lucy straightened up. "Oh, I don't know." She turned around and began fiddling with her bra before she finally pulled it off. "Well, that's a relief," she said. "This was so tight, I'm glad I don't have to wear it anymore! We really need to get me some new clothes, because Mom's just aren't gonna cut it."

She headed out of the kitchen and Damon glared at Adam, who was staring in Lucy's direction, his mouth open just a little.

"Hey, eyes on your plate, dog boy!" Damon said. "Or else I will pull them out and put them there!"  
>Adam quickly returned his gaze back to his cereal and then Damon went upstairs. He heard music coming from Lucy's bedroom, soft rock. He stood by the door and watched her as she pulled off her clothes and stood in her panties and bra (she must have put a new one on) for a moment before she began dancing around to the music. She was really very graceful.<p>

Damon quickly turned away from Lucy's bedroom door. What was he thinking? He shouldn't be looking at this! Then, he knocked into something and the music stopped. "Who's there?" Lucy called. "Damon, is that you?"

"Yes," Damon called. "Sorry for disturbing you."

She came out into the hallway and looked at him. "You didn't disturb me at all. In fact, why don't you come in? I don't mind."

"No, Cookie Monster," Damon managed to get out. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Lucy asked and then stood up on her tiptoes, stretching out her arms. "I bet you used to hang around me all the time when I was little and not dressed."

"Exactly," Damon said. "You're not little anymore, which makes some of the things we used to do inappropriate."

"Oh, yeah," Lucy nodded. "Like you bathing me, and dressing me, and...watching me be _naked_-"

"Stop talking!" Damon growled. He was beginning to feel very lightheaded. "And get dressed," he added. "You told me you wanted to get some new clothes that fit you better. Let's go and do that today."

"And when are we gonna tell Mom about Sam and me being grown up?" Lucy asked. "Because I assume she doesn't know."

"And she's not_ going _to know," Damon said. "Not until we can't avoid the issue anymore. If she asks where you are, I'll just say your Aunt Anna and Uncle Stefan took you out and you won't be back for a very long time. That's a believable excuse."

Lucy was looking at him with amazement. "That's genius!" She said. "It's so brilliant I could kiss you. In fact, I will!"

And before he had time to prepare, she threw her arms around him and kissed him. He tried his best to resist, but her skin was so soft and he actually felt warm inside. Against his better judgment, he kissed her back for a moment before pushing her away. "What was _that_?" He asked her.

"I was kissing you," she said. "I thought you'd like it."

"Well, I did," he said. "But we can't do it again. Not for a very long time."

Lucy grinned. "We'll just see about that."

* * *

><p>Adrian found Lenora sitting in a chair in her bedroom, facing the wall. "What happened?" He asked, getting on his knees beside her.<p>

She turned and sniffled, her eyes big and brown. "Mommy is being mean!" she said. "She put me here for an accident!"

"I'm sure that if your mother felt you needed to be put in time out, she did the right thing," Adrian said.

"It's because she doesn't love me!" Lenora burst out. "You love me, don't you Daddy?"

"Yes," Adrian said. "And that's why you have to stay in punishment so you can learn the difference between what's bad to do and what's good to do. Whatever you did is bad. What did you do?"

"I turned Aunt Lucy into a big girl." Lenora said. "She's very pretty. Are you proud of me?" She stood up, her eyes wide. "Daddy, are you okay?"

Adrian was on the ground now, breathing shallowly, his eyes nearly closed. His face was pale. Lenora tried to pull him up and when she couldn't move him, she ran to her open bedroom door and looked out.

"Mommy!" She called in a panicked voice. "Daddy's sick!"

Helene came running and when she saw Adrian on the floor, she tried not to laugh. "What brought this on?" She asked. "Did Lenora tell you what happened with Lucy?"

"Helene?" Adrian said in a shaky voice, his hand reaching out for hers. "Is that you?"

"Oh, stop!" Helene ordered. "And get up, already. You're fine and you know it."

"In a minute," Adrian said. "This is just a lot to wrap my mind around." He sat up and glared at his wife and daughter. "Do the two of you _enjoy_ giving me heart attacks? Is that it? Is that why you keep casting spells like this?"

"It's what we do," Lenora said. "We're witches."

"I don't mean in general," Adrian said. "I meant spells like the one on Lucy. Your mother did one too."

Lenora turned to Helene. "Really? Why am I in trouble then, if you did it too?"

Helene stumbled over her words for a moment. "Well, it happend with me because my powers were messed up at the time. My actions, unlike yours, were not intentional. It was like when you turned your daddy into a bird. I cast a spell at someone else and Lucy accidently got in the way of it."

"But you still did it," Lenora said. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen and get something to eat. Goodbye, Mommy."

"Now, just a minute," Adrian said. "No, you aren't. We're gonna find Lucy and you're gonna take the spell off her."

"She says she won't," Helene told him. "That's why I put her in time out."

"Why won't you take the spell off of Lucy?" Asked Adrian.

"Because she's _happy_," Lenora said. "She doesn't _want_ me to take it off!"

Adrian scoffed. "You're making that up."

"No, I'm not!" Lenora said. "It's _true_!"

"Well, that doesn't matter," Adrian said. "She's young and she has no idea what she's doing, so I have to go and help her see reason."

Helene burst out laughing. "Good luck with that, Sparky."

"Thank you," Adrian said through his teeth. "Lenora, come on!"

"Fine," Lenora said, pouting and following him out the door. "You don't even know where you're going!" Helene called after him.

"Oh, I think I do," he said.

Once they were out of sight, she closed the door, rolled her eyes, and called her father. She let the phone ring for several minutes, but no one was home.

* * *

><p>"What was this big surprise you said you had for me?" Alistair asked Klaus when the latter opened the door and found him standing on the other side.<p>

"Well, come in first," Klaus said. "I can't tell you when you're standing out there."

Alistair came inside and sat down. "So what do you have up your sleeve now?"

"What makes you think I'm up to something?" Klaus asked.

"Because you're _always_ up to something," Alistair said. "I've known you for half your existence, remember?"

"Well, this time I'm not," Klaus said. "I just wanted to tell you that I have a new roommate."

"Do you?" Alistair asked. "Who is it?"

"Caroline," Klaus said. "She got tired of living with Selina's mother and so I offered her a place here with me."

"Well, that's awfully lucky for you," Alistair said. "What inspired this sudden generosity? Her hair? Her face? Her legs? Other parts it would be ungentlemanly of me to mention?"

"In the past, I would have said 'yes' to all of the above," Klaus said. "But this experience with Selina has really changed me. You can choose to believe it or not, but it's true."

"Where's Caroline now?" Alistair asked. "Is she here?"

Klaus shook his head. "No, she's out walking around to clear her head. When Roxanne found out about Caroline being here, she didn't take to the idea too kindly and left Caroline a token of her esteem. She said before she left she intended to find Roxie and talk things out. I gave her the address and wished her luck."

"Oh, poor girl," Alistair said. "I hope she'll be all right."

"I have a feeling she's a lot stronger than she looks," Klaus said. "I think she'll be fine. And as for her and me, I'll get us a chaperone, if it'll wipe that smirk off your face. Selina's uncle Jake, maybe. We both know him. He could be a help."

"Well, it would be a start," Alistair said. "A definite way to show progress on your part. I think you should do it."

Caroline found herself standing outside the door of the house Klaus had mentioned. It seemed awfully familiar to her, like she'd seen it somewhere. She looked around, wondering if it was even worth knocking on the door. The place seemed deserted. Finally, she just decided to go for it. What did she have to lose, really?

She rapped hard on the door and finally, someone came and opened it. "Yes?" He said. "May I help you?"

"Oh, my god!" Caroline said, coming inside. "You poor old man! What has she _done _to you?"

"What has who done to me?" The man asked. "Several women have done things to me. You'll have to be more specific."

"Who _are_ you?" Caroline asked him as she closed the door behind her.

"Alfred McIntyre," the old man said. "It's a pleasure to meet you. What's _your_ name, young lady?"

"Caroline Forbes," Caroline said nervously. This old man was obviously out of his mind. Roxie had probably tortured him.

"Forbes?" Alfred's eyebrow went up. "That was my mother's last name. Her first name was Louisa."

"And your father was a McIntyre?" Caroline finished. "My several greats aunt Louisa was married to a McIntyre. James McIntyre. That's probably why I recognize the house. I've been looking at pictures of it all my life."

"Well, isn't this a charming coincidence?" Alfred said. "Why don't you come in and have a drink?"

"Well, all right," Caroline said. "Thank you."

Eventually, she and Alfred were sitting in chairs in the the living room and talking. "So how did you become a vampire?" Caroline asked him.

"It was because of a girl," Alfred said. "She was a pretty young thing and as old as I was, I was charmed that she paid any attention to me at all, but eventually I learned she was as sneaky as she was pretty. One night, she asked me to come down to a cemetery with her so she could pay hommage to some of her dead family members, but we ended up visiting some of _my _dead instead."

"Your family?" Caroline asked. "Your wife? Your children?"

"No," Alfred shook his head. "My former girlfriends. The ones who were silly enough to kill themselves after I decided to end things. Don't you think it's silly for a woman to kill herself just because a relationship she's in ends?"

"Well, based on the times you couldn't really blame the women," Caroline said stiffly. "They lived in a world where their whole life, their whole _reputation_ was connected to how men viewed them and to be dumped like trash was probably literally something they would never be able to recover from. Not like women of today. We're lucky. We can do whatever we want. Like me, for instance. My husband died recently and though I grieved, I still feel like it's okay to live my life. I'm not going to throw myself off a bridge because I'm without a man at the moment. I have a life that I'm perfectly capable of living on my own. Granted, it's more interesting to be with someone else, but I could still be alone if I wanted to be." She paused and cleared her throat. "Sorry. What happened while you were looking at the graves? Something must have."

"Well when we were at the grave of the tenth girl, Sera came up behind me and plunged a knife into the cape I was wearing, pinned me to the grave, bit me, forced her blood down my throat and stabbed me, leaving me to bleed to death on the girl's grave."

"This woman sounds crazy!" Caroline said. "What was her name, do you remember?"

"They called her Sera then," he said. "But she goes by something else now, Selina I think."

Caroline shook her head. "That's not true. You have to be lying. I _know_ Selina. She would never do something like that."

"Maybe not _now,_" Alfred said. "But she did back in the twenties and I've got the fangs to prove it. I've never quite figured out why she chose me, though. Maybe to get back at my mother. I've heard that they were never the best of friends."

"You're just a crazy old man!" Caroline said, getting up and moving toward the door. "You're lying and I'm going to prove it!"

* * *

><p>"You have to tell me something," Caroline said when she burst through the door, panting and nearly falling down the steps that were just inside the front door of Klaus' house. Klaus and Alistair looked up at her. "What's the matter?" Alistair asked. "What can we do for you? You look distraught." He guided her over to the sofa and helped her sit down.<p>

"I'm going to ask you a question and you have to tell me the truth," Caroline said. "Has Selina ever killed anyone? And not just for the purpose of feeding, either. Has she ever killed purely for the fun of it? Because I just went and saw this guy Alfred and he told me the most incredible story-"

"Whatever Alfred says is true, unfortunately," Alistair said. "It was a dark period in Selina's life. A long line of men had abandoned her, and finally, something in her snapped and she decided to take revenge upon all males in general. Well, not right away. It started with her killing the men she dated when she found out they were being unfaithful, along with the women they were being unfaithful with. And as for Alfred, she had something against Alfred's mother and thought turning him would be a big deadly shock, if I remember correctly. All mankind only became her targets later on. But she's since recovered and is doing quite well for herself."

Just then, the doorbell rang and Alistair went to answer it. "Elijah!" He said. "Congratulations!"

Elijah grinned and stepped in the house. "Thank you," he said. "And would you thank Astrid again for us? We're really grateful for her help."

"Has Selina had the baby?" Caroline asked. "When did it happen?"

"It hasn't even been a day," Elijah said. "Mere hours, as a matter of fact." Elijah looked at Klaus. "So when are you going to come and see your nephew?"

"Oh, it will be soon," Klaus said. "As long as I get to before Mother pulls the dagger out of your father, that is."

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Elijah said. "And I'm sure Selina will be glad when she hears how well you're taking this."

Klaus looked up at him. "Well, this may surprise you, but I've moved on," he said. "Or at least I'm working on it. I have a life. I can have any woman I want. I don't need to spend the rest of my life dwelling on Selina."

"Well, good," Elijah said. "That's good. Especially when you've got someone else just as lovely right here."

"Well, thank you," Caroline said. "That's sweet, considering we've only met once before."

Elijah cleared his throat. "I should go now," he said. "I just came by to share my good news. Nice to see you again, Caroline. See you all later at the house, I hope."

* * *

><p>Elijah found Selina in the upstairs library, sitting in an armchair with her bare legs draped over the armrest. She was barefoot and her toes were painted the same dark shade of purple as the dress she was wearing, which would have been more appropriate for spring or summer than the middle of December. She was reading a book and was so absorbed in it that she didn't look up as he came near her. He finally reached out and tickled the bottom of her foot, which made her jump about a mile and throw her book in the air. When it was finally brought down by gravity, it landed on Elijah's head.<p>

"Ow!" He said.

She smirked at him. "That will teach you to sneak up on me. Gregory's asleep now, but I have the monitor down here with me in case he wakes up."

Elijah looked at her with concern. "Aren't you cold?" He reached out and ran a hand over her leg. "You have goosebumps all over your leg. And your feet are freezing! What are you thinking, wearing your summer clothes when it's cold outside?" He began rubbing her legs to warm them up and then began massaging her feet.

"How's this?" He asked her. "Are you feeling warmer?"

Selina closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes, this is helping. Keep going, please. So, did you tell Nicky about Gregory?"

He saw a small smirk curving her lips and realized that this was all a ploy to get him to touch her.

"You know, you could have just asked for me to do this," he said. "I would have done it happily. I _am_ doing it happily. And yes, I did tell him. He said he's going to come and visit soon."

"But if I just asked you to do it, you wouldn't scold me," she said, still on her previous train of thought. "And for some odd reason, I find it a big turn on when you scold me for being irresponsible. I think it's because it means you care."

"Oh, I do," he said, bringing his hand from her foot and up her leg to her thigh. "I care a lot." He leaned forward and kissed her deeply. When he pulled away, she was breathing hard. "Remember, Astrid said no sex."

Elijah grinned. "But she _didn't_ say we weren't allowed to touch each other. Did you hear her say that?"

"Well, no," Selina said. "But it figures you'd keep track of things like that, seeing as how you benefit from them."

"Well so do you," he said, moving his hand over a little on top of her panties and rubbing. "See?"

Selina whimpered again and finally pulled him to her, running her fingers through his hair and kissing his lips, then down his neck.

"I would unzip you," she said at last. "But who knows when Gregory's going to wake up and I wouldn't want to leave you uncomfortable. In fact, I think I'll go check on Gregory now."

"I can wait," Elijah said, giving her a playful swat on the bottom as she made her way to the door. She turned around and said, "Oh, I bet you can't. And since you can't, I won't be long. I promise."

* * *

><p>"So where are we?" Roxie asked when she was finally allowed to open her eyes and saw the rundown shack before her. "Why am I here?"<p>

"I thought you could use a change of pace after all that time in the city," Vince said. "Something a little quieter. So Charlie, Tony and I went out and found this little farm. It's going to be home sweet home for a long time."

"Wait," Roxie said, getting out and eyeing the broken trim on the roof and the cracked windows. "We're moving here..._deliberately_?"

"This is the best place we found, I promise," Vince told her. "The rest of them were real dumps."

"But it's a _shack_!" Roxie shuddered. "I bet it's full of mice and rats."

"So?" Vince said. "You can kill them, just like you're going to kill the animals for dinner every night. As I recall, you _like_ killing things, don't you? Things and people."


	35. Lucy Lost

"I'll get the door!" Lucy called when the doorbell rang. She opened the door and saw Adrian on the other side. "What do _you_ want?" She asked her brother. "Have you come to drag me away now that you found out about what happeend to me?"  
>"Are you thinking that I shouldn't?" Adrian asked.<br>"No!" Lucy said. "Because it's none of your business! Now go away and don't you dare tell Mom and Dad about this! It'll ruin everything if you do!" She slammed the door in his face and refused to open it again.

"See?" Lenora told her father. "I told you she was okay."

"Who was that?" Damon asked Lucy. "From the sound of things, someone you don't like."

"It was Adrian," Lucy said. "He was gonna take me away and ruin everything. Would you have let him do that?"

"No." Damon said, pulling her to him. "Not a chance in hell. If you don't want to go back with your brother, of course I won't make you."

"It's because you love me, isn't it?" Lucy asked.

Damon sighed. "Yes, but don't tell anyone."

"Oh, of course not," Lucy said, laying her head on his shoulder. "If I do, they might take me away and I don't want that."

"Me either," Damon said.  
>"So it's okay if I stay here?" Lucy asked.<p>

Damon sighed. "Well, we don't really have much choice, do we?" Damon asked. "I mean, if you went home, your mother and your uncle would find out and Lenora doesn't seem willing to turn you back, so we might as well hang tight until she feels like it. There's no point in starting a fight if it won't do any good."

"All right," Lucy said. "So are we going to buy me clothes like you promised?"

"Sure," Damon said warily. "Why not?" Then he suddenly brightened. "What if I just go and pick out things for you?" He asked. "Wouldn't that be easier than the two of us going all the way to the store and trying on every single thing?"

"But you don't know what size I am," Lucy said.

"Well do _you _know what size you are?" Damon asked.

Lucy stood up and removed her clothes, checking the tags. "You could have asked me to do that, you know," Damon said through his teeth.

"What?" Lucy asked. "Take off my clothes? I'll remember that for next time. Or, I could always put them on again and _then_ you could take them off," Lucy said.

"I just meant that I could check the tags," Damon said. "You don't need to actually remove your clothes to check tags."

She gave him the sizes and then he said, "Well, let's try bringing you up a size. I don't think you're _that_ much bigger than your mother."

He left and came back a little while later with two bags full of clothes. Lucy took them and went to the bedroom mirror to put them on. The dresses and shirts swallowed her body and the pants were way too loose.

"None of these fit!" Lucy said. "You can't see my body at all! If they fit properly, you could see my body!"

"Well, maybe that means you should start wearing different clothes," Damon said. "Bigger ones."

"But why?" Lucy asked.

"You don't want men looking at your body, do you?" Damon asked. "Wouldn't you rather they looked beyond your body and liked you for your mind?"

"Well, yeah," Lucy said. "But is there some way I can have men like me for my mind _and_ still wear pretty clothes?" She looked morosely at the brown dress she wore. "I don't like this color at all." She took the dress off and let it crumple at her feet. "You've had your turn," she said. "Now when we go to get clothes, I'm gonna come with you and get stuff I actually like."

"Well, I think someone's a bit ungrateful for all I just did," Damon said. "I bought you an entire wardrobe. I would think you'd have the manners to at least say 'thank you'."

"Well they were all too big," Lucy said. "You knew I wasn't gonna be able to wear any of the stuff you bought when you bought it. Also, the colors are ugly and I still see the security tags on everything. You didn't even buy it at all. You _stole_ it all!"

"I did not," Damon said. "I used my compulsion. That's not the same as stealing."

"I can't believe you did that!" Lucy said.

"Well, there you go!" Damon told her. "I'm a terrible person! I lie, I cheat, I steal, I kill, and damn it, I'm proud of it! I'm not the sort of guy you should be interested in. You should find a nice guy who studies and pays for things with money and who didn't date your mother! Don't you find that the least bit creepy?"

"I can't believe how you got this stuff," Lucy said. "You could have used your compulsion to get anything in the whole store and you get the frumpy stuff that doesn't fit me? You could have done better!"

"Wait a minute now," Damon said. "The fact that I as good as stole this doesn't bother you at all?"

"No," Lucy shook her head. "Why should it? You have vampire powers, you should use them. Just not for everything."

"But I thought that growing up with Elijah made you learn to hate stuff like stealing. Didn't he repeatedly hit you over the head with the fact that stealing is _wrong_?" Damon was dumbstruck. This wasn't the reaction he'd planned on at all.

Lucy nodded. "He did, but that doesn't mean I listened all the time. Mom doesn't either. She does what she sees fit and I think that's a sound way to live."

"You think like your mother?" Damon asked.

"You seem surprised by that," Lucy said. "Should I not think like my mother?"

Damon shook his head. "No, it's fine, really. I just never thought-Oh, never mind."

"And besides," Lucy said, "I find the idea of you stealing stuff kind of hot. Just so you know."

She winked at him and Damon felt his body go hot as he tried to avert his gaze from her bottom while she walked toward his car to head to the mall.

"_This_ is the kind of stuff I wanna wear," Lucy said, looking at the pile of stuff she'd picked out. Most of the clothes were body hugging and had a zipper on the back. She put on the first dress, a light purple one. "Damon," she called to him, "Will you come in and zip me up?"

"Do I have to?" Damon called back. "Can't you do it yourself?"

"No," Lucy said. "Please come in. I can't reach the zipper!" She heard a sigh from outside the dressing room. "Fine," he said. "I'll come in. But unzipping you is all I'm gonna do."

A few seconds later, Damon came inside and, averting his gaze, quickly pulled her zipper down and and she looked up. "Sit," she said. "Please."

"I would be more comfortable outside," Damon said.

"Trust me, it would just be easier for you if you stayed in here," Lucy told him. "If you leave, you'll have to keep coming in here every time I need something unzipped and most of the stuff I picked have zippers on the back."

"I'll just bet they do," Damon said.

"Well, what's the matter?" Lucy asked as she removed her dress. "You seem upset."

"No," Damon shook his head. "I'm not upset. I just-I'm a bit uncomfortable right now."

"Why?" Lucy asked. "Is there anything I can do to make it better for you?"

"Honestly, yes," Damon said. "And believe me, I really, really want you to, but I don't, at the same time."

"Why?" Lucy asked.

Damon watched helplessly as she removed her panties and her bra, a low growl escaping his throat.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked. "Damon, what's the matter?"

"You think you're cute, but you're not," he said. "You're beautiful and you're torturing me!"

"I don't mean to," Lucy said. "I was just joking around!" She watched him nervously and put her underwear back on, and then he said, "Stop!"

"Okay," Lucy told him. She was breathing hard now. Damon took off his coat and came toward her. He pulled her to him, kissing her hard, first her lips then down her neck. She moaned as he unhooked her bra and lowered her to the floor.

Lucy looked into his eyes as he got down on his knees next to her. "I don't want it to be like this," she said. "It's too soon."

"Is it?" Damon asked, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You seem ready to me."

"But I was only joking," Lucy said. "It wasn't a very good joke, but that's all, I swear."

Damon sighed. "No, you weren't. Don't look me in the eye and tell me you were joking. I know you weren't."

Lucy sat up and put her clothes on, her eyes filling with tears. "I'm sorry," she said. "I don't want to cause you any pain, but I just-I love you so much and and you said you loved me-but you probably meant it in a fatherly sort of way, right? Oh, my god, I feel like such an idiot!" She ran out of the dressing room door, crying. Damon went into the main store and walked up to the woman at the counter. "We'll take all the things in the dressing room," he said. "And could you tell me which way she ran?"

"Out the door and to the left, but I doubt if you'll be able to catch her," the woman said. "She was a zippy little thing." It took a little time, but finally, all the clothes Lucy had chosen were put in bags and Damon took them back to his house and put them in Lucy's room. He went to the kitchen, got himself a bourbon, and just as he was thinking about what to do next, he found a note by the phone.

_Damon,_

_I don't want to cause you pain anymore, so I've gone. Don't search for me. I've behaved childishly and I need time to grow up. Maybe someday soon, we'll see each other again, and by then, I'll be old enough that it won't have to hurt when you look at me._

_Until then, all my love._

_Lucy_

"Are you gonna look for her?" Adam asked. "She really shouldn't be alone in the city. Are you going to call her mother?"

Damon shook his head. "That's the _last_ thing I'm going to do. Selina doesn't even know Lucy's aged and now is _not_ the right time to tell her."

* * *

><p>Elijah tossed and turned but couldn't get to sleep. He finally stopped trying and sat up, running his fingers through his hair. He felt the mattress move and then the light on the bedside table came on.<p>

"What is it?" Selina asked. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," he said. "Go back to sleep. You need it. I'm sorry I woke you."

Selina gave him a long look and then finally decided it was no use arguing. She turned off the light and faced away from him. Then, he got out of bed and began walking around, eventually finding himself in Gregory's room. It had been a whole month since he had been born and Elijah still found it hard to believe he was here.

He picked his son up out of his crib and sat down in the rocking chair with him. Gregory looked up at him, and Elijah found it a little unnerving to have his own brown eyes watching him. "I have something I have to say," Elijah began. "It's something I have to tell your mother, but it's been hard, and I figure if I tell you first, it will be easier to tell her. A long time ago, before I even met her, I got turned into a vampire. And when you get turned into a vampire, sometimes, in the beginning, you hurt people. You don't mean to, of course, but sometimes it happens. _I_hurt people. I didn't just hurt people, I killed them. And not just any people, my wife and children. The people who counted on me to protect them. Don't worry, Gregory. I won't hurt you. Or your mother either. It's been long enough that I can control myself, but sometimes, it's just hard to forget. You understand, don't you?"

Gregory gave him what seemed to be a smile, and then Elijah put him back into his crib and left, bumping into Selina, who stood just outside the door.

"Oh, hello," Elijah said. "I thought I told you to stay in bed."

Selina grinned. "You were talking like you were hiding something from me so I decided to be sneaky and follow you. When were you planning on telling me about what happened to your wife and kids?"

"I was going to tell you," Elijah said. "You heard what I told Gregory! I just couldn't figure out a way to phrase it that wouldn't scare you."

Selina scoffed. "Scare me? It wouldn't scare me that in the heat of bloodlust you accidently killed your wife and children. That _is_ what happened, isn't it?"

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "It is. And after that, I felt so bad, I just killed anyone I came across. I became addicted. It took me years and years to stop."

Selina put her hands on her hips. "Well, you know, I have to say I'm hurt that you were carrying all this pain around and you didn't think once to share it with me. I don't like you to hurt. I could have helped you." She kissed his cheek.

"As much as I enjoy your charms, I don't think they would have helped me with this," Elijah said. "Besides, you shouldn't worry about me. My past is my own cross to bear. You should be worrying about more important things, like Gregory. He needs you much more than I do."

"You know," Selina said, "You're more stubborn then me, you silly man. You _do _realize that you're more stubborn than me, right? Not a lot of people are, but you're really up there."

"It's late," Elijah said. "If you need to feed Gregory, you should do that, and then come to bed."

"Oh, don't you tell me to come to bed like I'm a child!" Selina said. "I'm not tired and I will come to bed when I choose. And that will _not_ be until you let me help you." Elijah rolled his eyes and began walking away from her.

"Don't you turn your back on me!" She said. "I'm trying to tell you something important! If you let yourself wallow in guilt like this, you know what will happen? You'll end up just like my mother! And she became so unpleasant that now no one wants to be near her including me, and I'm one of the most patient people I know!"

When they got to the door of their bedroom, Elijah grabbed her hand and pulled her to him, kissing her deeply. She resisted for a moment, but then put her arms around him, feeling his hands go down her back and over her bottom. She moaned and pulled away. "Astrid said we shouldn't. We have two more weeks to go."

Elijah grinned. "Look at you being cautious now," he said. "What brought it on? Because I'm sure it wasn't common for you and Niklaus to wait six weeks to be intimate with each other."

"No," Selina said. "We never did."

He picked her up and put her over his shoulder. "Well, I don't see what the problem is now, then." He laughed as she began beating on his back. "Would you put me down?" She asked. "You are so stupid!"

"Of course I'll put you down," he said, tossing her onto the bed and looming over her, pushing up her pajama top and kissing her stomach. She moaned and he continued kissing upward, massaging her and then slipping off her pajama bottoms and her panties. Her body was hot all over. She was breathing hard.

"You know," she said, "I really don't find this attractive at all."

"Yes you do," he said, removing the last of his clothing and climbing into bed with her, kissing the inside of her thigh. She moaned again.

"Come inside me," she said. "Please."

"Are you _certain_ it won't hurt you?" Elijah asked.

"Yes!" Selina said. "Just do it, _please_!"

He pushed into her and she let out a shriek that of course woke up Gregory. Selina sighed. "Since it's my fault, I'll go calm him," she said. She grabbed her bathrobe off the bedknob and put it on.

"You do that," he said, running a hand over her arm. "I'll be here waiting for you."

She gave a self-conscious laugh, blushing a little, and went to tend to Gregory.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Lucy woke up to the sound of a voice above her. "What are you doing here?" it demanded. "Didn't you have anywhere else to go?"<p>

Lucy felt a little groggy, blurting out the first thing that came to her mind: "I'm sorry, Officer. I won't do it again."

The laugh that greeted that statement sounded like nails on a blackboard and made Lucy wince. It also brought the speaker into focus. She was a tall, gangly woman with long, faded blue hair and a beaky nose. She wore fake lashes above her large blue eyes and dressed in clothes that were covered in paint.

"Who are you?" Lucy asked.

"My friends call me Mimi, that's all you need to know," the woman said cheerfully. "Now sit up, you're covered with snow. We had a storm last night."

Lucy looked down and saw snow covering her from neck to feet. When Mimi pulled her up to a sitting position, she realized how stiff she was. "Well, that's the last time I ever sleep on a park bench," she said.

"You sound like you have other options," Mimi said. "That's good. But if it's not too personal a question, if you _do_ have other options, why spend the night on a park bench?"

Lucy looked up at her. "Well, you don't know me, or my parents or anyone like that, so oddly enough, you're the only one I _can_ tell. I ran away from home last night."

"Why would you ever do that in the middle of January or at any other time?" Mimi asked. "Your mother and father must be worried sick about you. Do they even know you're gone?"

Lucy shook her head, tears running down her cheeks. "No, they don't. I don't even live with them. For the last several months, I've been living with a guy. My parents are divorced."

"This man you're living with, is he your boyfriend?" Mimi asked. "Did you run away because you two had a fight?"

"Well, it wasn't exactly a figh," Lucy said. "He's older, and he wants to be with me in every way a person can be with a person, you know? But he can't, cause he thinks I'm too young just now, only I didn't know that was the reason, so I've been doing the most disgusting things to get his attention and I made a complete fool of myself, so I left and here I am."

"This man cares about you?" Mimi asked.

Lucy nodded. "And I didn't just leave him point blank. I left him a note explaining why I had to run away, and I told him not to look for me and that I'd see him again someday when I'd grown up."

"Everyone has a time when they need to grow up," Mimi said sympathetically. "And sometimes, once you realize that, you have to do really drastic things to make it happen. For me, it was the day I realized that I preferred the romantic company of women over men. I told my parents and being very traditional people, they were displeased and threw me out of their house. I was about your age and I pretty much raised myself after that."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lucy said. "That must've been awful."

Mimi sighed. "At first. But then I realized it was one of the greatest gifts I could have ever been given. It gave me the space I needed to become comfortable in my own skin. Are you comfortable in your own skin?"

"I guess," Lucy said. "I don't know."

"Well, until you figure it out, you can come stay with me," Mimi told her. "I'm not a shady character, I promise. I have a boardinghouse not far from here, full of artsy types like myself. I hope you don't mind artsy types."

"No," Lucy said truthfully. "My mother is one. When I was little, she painted her entire bedroom and let me and my twin brother help. And after that, she put paper on the walls so we had canvas space to draw whenever and wherever we felt like. That gave my uncle the worst fits you can possibly imagine. He's a very serious person, you see." She giggled.

"So you sketch?" Mimi asked as they walked out of the park. "You'll have to show me your drawings sometime. I'd love to see them."

* * *

><p>Damon had slept fitfully and he woke up in a really bad mood. "Are you still here?" He snapped at Adam. "What the hell am I supposed to do with you anyway?"<p>

"Help me be cool," Adam said. "Help me be attractive to women other than my ex-girlfriend, who, may I say, has a _very_ jealous husband."

"Oh, that's right," Damon said. "Stefan and Anna. He's my brother."

"Is it normal for him to be that angry?" Adam asked.

"Actually no," Damon said. "You were just a victim of years and years of repressed anger. Fun, huh?"

"Are we going to start my training today?" Adam asked eagerly.

"I think I have other things on my mind then making some nerd look cool," Damon said. "In case you haven't noticed, Lucy is _missing_!"

"Oh, I know that," Adam said. "She hugged me goodbye before she left and made me swear I would keep you from looking for her."

Damon burst out laughing. "She honestly thought _you_ could keep _me_ from doing something? That's adorable. Total Lucy thinking."

"So even though she told you that she doesn't want you to look for her, you're going to do it anyway?" Adam asked.

"Of course I am," Damon said. "She's sixteen years old. Not even that! What does _she_ know? I'm_ not_ going to have her wandering around the city by herself. I don't care how strong she is."

"And if you manage to find her, what will you do?" Adam asked. "Pick her up and drag her back here?"

Damon nodded. "And give her the talking to of a lifetime for leaving." And then kiss her and hug her and lock us both in my room so I can be sure she'll never leave my bed...

He blinked. No! He couldn't think like that! She was a _little girl_! She was his Cookie Monster! He couldn't think naughty things about his Cookie Monster! "Tell me something," he said sharply to Adam, "Do you have any of your dog abilities now? Like could you track Lucy?"

Adam shook his head. "Unfortunately no. You'd need a witch or something for that. I do know a couple. I could give you their address."

"No need," Damon said. "I know them too."

* * *

><p>Lenora heard the phone ring and when she realized no one was around to answer it, she picked it up herself. "Hello?"<p>

"Lenora, is that you?" Damon asked.

"Yeah-huh," Lenora said. "Who is _this_?"

"It's Damon Salvatore," he said. "You know, your grandma's friend?"

"You know my mommy too!" Lenora said brightly.

"Yeah, I do," Damon said. "Could you get your mommy for me? I need a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Lenora asked. "A _magical_ favor?"

"Yes!" Damon said.

"I can do magic too!" Lenora said. "Wanna see?" She jabbed her finger in the direction of the phone and suddently Damon appeared. "Hi," Lenora said shyly.

"How did I get here?" Damon asked her.

"I did it!" Lenora said, jumping up and down happily. "It was me! Wanna see something else?" She pointed at the cupboards and they began to open and close.

"Wow," Damon said. "That's very good. But where's your mommy? Lucy is missing and I need your mommy to help me find her."

"Aunt Lucy is _missing_?" Lenora asked loudly

"Yes," Damon whispered. "But we have to be quiet. I don't want your daddy to know. Just your mommy."

"Daddy doesn't like you," Lenora said.

"I know," Damon told her. "I know." Just then, the cupboards closed and Helene stood at the entrance to the kitchen. "Damon, how did you get here? I didn't hear anyone come in."

"Lenora brought me, actually," Damon said. "And it was a good thing she did too. I need your help."

"Aunt Lucy is missing," Lenora said.

"And you want me to help you find her," Helene said. "I'm guessing as covertly as possible?"

"Yeah," Damon said. "That would be nice. Selina especially can't know."

Helene sighed. "All right," she said. "I have some things I need to pick up for the spells I'm gonna have to do. Go back to your house and I'll meet you there in an hour."

"_Both_ of us will!" Lenora piped up. "I wanna help look for Aunt Lucy!"

"How you'll help is by distracting your daddy," Helene said. "You think you can do that?"

"All right," Lenora sighed. "But it won't be as much fun."


	36. On the Edge

Lucy looked at herself in the mirror. She knew she'd behaved childishly with Damon and that was what had driven him away. She had to change somehow, to show him that she was grown up. She wasn't six years old anymore and he had to know. But how could she do that? She began opening drawers and finally found a pair of scissors. She looked at them for a moment and then grabbed a chunk of her long blonde hair and began cutting until she had a pile of hair at her feet and her face was framed by a jagged, uneven bob.

Just then, she heard a knock at the door. "Are you all right, Lucy?" Mimi called.

"Yes!" Lucy called. "I'm great!" She opened the bathroom door and found Mimi on the other side. "What did you do to your hair?" She asked, looking bewildered.

"I cut it," Lucy said. "I thought it would make me look older."

"Is this for that man you're crazy about?" Mimi asked.

"Maybe a little," Lucy admitted. "I think I'll go show him right now."

* * *

><p>But when she reached Damon's house and he answered her knock, he didn't say a word about her hair. He lifted her up off the front step and carried her into the house, kissing her all over her face.<p>

"Don't you ever leave again!" Damon scolded. "Do you understand me? You had me worried sick!"

Before Lucy could respond, however, he was kissing down her neck and onto her collarbone. She decided it would be best to say nothing. Who knew what would come out of this relief he was feeling?

Lucy put her arms around his neck and he kept kissing lower and lower, until he had to unbutton her shirt. Then he picked her up and carried her to his bed. He removed her shirt and her skirt, but once he realized what he was looking at, his eyes widened and he pulled away. "What am I doing?" He groaned. "I can't do this, Cookie Monster. I'm sorry."

Lucy sat up angrily. "Oh, no!" She said, standing up on the bed and removing her bra and panties, standing naked before him. "We've already come this far. We're going to go all the way, damn it!"

"Lucy, I can't!" Damon said. "You know why!"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I know. Because I'm Cookie Monster, and small and innocent and cute. I should be, I admit that. But I'm not anymore. I mean for god's sake, look at me!"

Damon resisted for a second, then his eyes locked on her breasts. She definitely wasn't a little girl anymore.

"Exactly!" Lucy said, making note of how long it took him to remove his gaze. "You're attracted to me, I'm attracted to you. And the only thing that will make you stop thinking of me as a little girl is for us to have sex. Now are you gonna take off your clothes, or am I gonna have to rip them off you?"

Damon watched her and was overcome with a combination of awe and the urge to laugh. She was absolutely serious.

"You're giving me a choice?" He asked. "You know, your mother wouldn't," he said. "She'd just rip everything off."

Lucy got down on her knees on the bed and ripped off his shirt, pulling him to her and kissing him deeply. She deftly unzipped him and wiggled out of her panties.

"Don't keep me waiting," she said. "This was the whole reason I came back."

He grinned and stroked her. "Well, I'll have to make it worth your while," he said. "We wouldn't you to leave again." She whimpered, and then shrieked as he pushed into her. "And by the way," he said when they'd finished for the moment, "I really like the haircut."

Lucy blushed a little. "Thank you for noticing," she said. "I thought it would make me seem more grown up. Did it work?"

"Put your clothes on and I'll be able to focus more on your face," Damon said.

Obligingly, Lucy dressed. "Now have a look," she said. "And tell me honestly, what do you think of my hair?"

"It's something," Damon said. "Did you cut it yourself?"

"Well, yeah, I did," Lucy nodded. "Is it that obvious? Should I go to a professional to have it evened out?"

"Oh, no. Don't!" Damon said. "I like it this way. It makes you look very singular."

"All right," Lucy said after a moment. "I'll keep it like it is." She took a deep breath and then said, "You do realize what we just did, don't you?"

Damon sighed. "Yep. Do you realize how much trouble that'll get me in with your relatives? Your mother and every man you're related to will want my head."

"Well, that's only if you tell them," Lucy said. "And you wouldn't be silly enough to tell them yet, would you?"

"Do you think I have a death wish?" Damon replied. "And do you swear you won't tell them?"

"Oh, no!" Lucy said, eyes wide. "I want to do this several more times. I definitely wouldn't be stupid enough to tell them."

"Well that puts us both in an awkward position," Damon said. "You want to do this more, yet neither of us want to be caught. How do you suggest we handle that?"

"Well," Lucy said thoughtfully, "first things first, we'll have to stop coming here. Everyone knows that you live here and it's where they'll expect you to be. Now when I left, I ran into the most wonderful woman in the park. Her name is Mimi and she runs a gallery downtown. She told me I could stay with her. If she met you, I'm sure she'd love you and let us have our little meetings at her house. No one knows about that but you and me. It's full proof!"

Damon looked at her eager face and sighed. "This is really wrong, you know," he said.

Lucy's eyes narrowed. "Don't you start with that 'You're still a little girl' crap. I though we got over that already!"

Damon sighed. "Well, I think for the moment we have. I mean, what this was, what we just did, was that I just let my emotions get the better of me. I was so glad to see you back that I let myself do whatever the hell I felt like. I'm very impulsive like that sometimes."

"When you had sex with Mom the first time," Lucy said, "Whose idea was it? Yours or hers?"

"Hers," Damon said. "I was about to leave with the army and she had this idea that she didn't wnat me to leave and possibly die without us ever, you know..."

"Having sex?" Lucy supplied. "Come on, you can say it. I know you can. How come you're always so twitchy around me?"

"I am _not_ twitchy!" Damon said. "You got what you came here for, so why don't you just go back to this Mimi and live your life and we'll tuck this little event away and keep it between the two of us."

"I'll remember it fondly," Lucy said. "Will you?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Damon said. "Now just go, please!"

Lucy sighed. "Fine, but you know I'll come back. You know it. And you'll be damn glad when I do!"

She strode out the door, leaving Damon alone to run his fingers through his hair and collapse on the living room sofa.

* * *

><p>"So did it work?" Mimi asked. "Did your hair make an impression on him?"<p>

"It really did," Lucy nodded. "I mean, _really._ Actually, it wasn't the hair at all. It was the fact that when he saw me, he was so relieved that I wasn't lost or dead that he took me into his arms, carried me to his room, and then we-"

"You...?" Mimi said. "You don't mean you had sex with him."

"Yeah!" Lucy laughed. "I did! And he only noticed the hair _after_ we'd finished. He told me not to get it evened out. Said it looked better this way."  
>"Well, it's good you got what you wanted," Mimi said.<p>

Lucy nodded. "Of course my family's gonna be real unhappy about it if they ever find out. Because Damon's a bit of a Casanova and most of the men in my family are _way_ overprotective of me."

"So that's it for the two of you then?" Mimi asked. "One glorious moment and then nothing?"

"Oh, I don't see any reason why we should have to end things," Lucy said. "I just thought we could have our meetings somewhere nobody in my family knows about. Could we have them here, please, Mimi? I'll bring Damon over to meet you, I promise."

"Wow," Mimi said. "Just how bad _are_ the men in your family?"

"_Really_ bad," Lucy told her. "You have no idea."

* * *

><p>"Oh, my god," Selina moaned. "How long have we been going for?"<p>

Elijah kissed down her neck. "Twelve hours with the occasional break to go tend to Gregory," he said. "Have you tired out yet?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "Have you?"

Elijah grinned. "Of course not." They were in the throes of passion when Elijah's cell phone, which was next to the bed, began ringing.

"Well, this is awkward," Selina said. "Neither of us are really in a position to answer it, are we?"

They maneuvered a little bit until Elijah could finally reach for the phone. "Yes?" he said. "What is it?"

He was greeted by sobs on the other side of the line. "Anna?" He said. "Anna, what is it? What's happened?"

"It's Aleksandr," she sniffled. "I came to visit him today to see how he was dealing with Father being gone and I found him...Oh, Elijah, he's _dead_! Aleksandr's been killed!"

Elijah's eyes widened for a moment, then he took a deep breath. "It's all right," he said. "There's an easy way to fix this. Just go and pull the dagger out of him and then he'll spring back to life, like we all do."

"No," Anna said. "You don't understand! He's been completely finished off. There's no way to bring him back. You _have_ to come see for yourself!"

Elijah sighed. "Oh, all right, Anna. I'll be right there. Just stay where you are and try to be calm."

"What's the matter?" Selina asked. "Is something wrong?"

Elijah shrugged. "Anna has the idea in her head that Aleksandr has been killed. She says she's at Father's house and found his body."

"Well, are you going to go over there and have a look to be sure?" Selina asked. "She could be overdramatizing things."

"That's what I suspect is going on," Elijah said. "But I'll humor her. And you'll stay here with Gregory, won't you?"

Selina sat silently for a moment, and then said, "Yes, I will. But if you go, and it turns out he _is_ dead, will you take me to see him so that I can say goodbye? I mean, Aleksandr and I _were_ married for ten years, and even though they weren't the happiest ten years I've ever had, it's not like I can forget them."

Elijah nodded. "All right. But I have to have your word that you will promise to stay put this time."

Selina nodded. "I promise I'll stay here."

When Elijah arrived at his father's house, he found Anna sobbing and shaking just inside the front door. "All right," he said. "Where is Aleksandr?"

Anna burst into sobs again. "He's in the b-b-bedroom! But don't make me go back in there, please! It's just awful."

"All right," Elijah nodded. "You can stay in here. I won't make you come with me."

Anna sniffled again and Elijah began walking from room to room looking for Aleksandr's body. Finally, he came upon a door that had **You'll be next!** written on it in blood. Elijah looked at it for a moment, then reached out with his handkerchief and smeared the words. The blood was fresh. It couldn't have been put on the door that long ago. Then, he looked at the bed and he saw Aleksandr's head poking out from under the covers, his skin gray, his eyes vacant and glassy, his arms resting behind his head. Elijah advanced slowly toward the bed, pulling the covers aside and groaning as Aleksandr's head, which had been severed cleanly from his neck, rolled off his arms and under the bed. That left Elijah gazing at his brother's headless torso, where the dagger stood straight up in his heart. He pulled at Aleksandr's arms, which had been hanging off his shoulders by a thread. His legs were much the same way. Who would have done this?

Just then, he heard a small sound and looked up to see a dark-haired, dark-eyed little girl standing by the door and cradling a large, bloody knife. "He didn't scream," she said, her voice expressionless. "He begged me to kill him."

"_You_!"Elijah said. "You did this!"

"I didn't really want to," she said. "Believe me, I didn't. But with your father out of the way thanks to your mother, Aleksandr had control of our entire operation and was doing a horrible job of running things. We've really accomplished nothing. So, knowing that I could handle things much better, I did what I had to to put myself in charge." Her eyes narrowed. "You have a choice," she said. "Are you going to cooperate with me? Or do I have to kill you, too?"

Elijah stared at her for a moment, then ran at her, and with a yell, grabbed her around the throat and began shaking her until she was as limp as a rag doll, then threw her down on the floor. When her eyes opened, she looked at him and gave a gurgling laugh. "Are you going to kill me now?" She asked. "Go on, I deserve it."

Elijah shook his head. "No, Mary Anne. I won't kill you. It's not my place, although I suppose you _do_ deserve to die. But I know someone else who would be more than happy to end your life."

"And who is that?" Mary Anne asked.

"You'll see," Elijah said. "You'll see." He left her at the house, locking the door behind him and then went back home.

"So is he dead?" Selina asked shakily. "Is Aleksandr dead?"

Elijah nodded. "Yes."

Selina gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"And I know I promised you that I'd let you see him so you could say goodbye, but after seeing him myself, I don't think it would be wise. His killer was very thorough when she finished him off."

"She?" Selina repeated. "Who killed him?"

"Mary Anne," he said.

Selina sucked in her breath. "Oh, god. That little _bitch_! If I could just get my hands around her neck, I'd-"

"That was my original plan, to ask you to handle her," Elijah said.

"Well, then, let's drop Gregory off at your mother's and go and finish off Mary Anne," Selina said. "I won't take long with her, I promise."

"Look at yourself!" Elijah said. "I won't have you acting like this. Not when you've worked so hard to recover from the dark times. Do you really want things to be like that again?"

Selina sighed. "Well, no. Not really. I just think that she should pay for what she did to Aleksandr. Don't you think that? Aren't you as upset about this as I am?"

"Of course I am!" Elijah told her. "Which is why _I _am going to deal with Mary Anne and _you_ are going to stay here!"

Selina sighed. "Oh, all right," she said. "But watch yourself. Mary Anne's a tricky little monster. I've always known that. And just think: if it weren't for Nicky, she'd have been dead a long time ago."

"Niklaus turned her?" Elijah asked.

Selina nodded. "Granted I wasn't there when it actually happened, but who else could have done it?"

Elijah sighed. "I'm going to go back to Father's house, deal with Aleksandr's body, Anna and Mary Anne. You stay here. You promised me."

"I know," Selina said. "Just go already, would you?"

When Elijah got back to Mikael's house, Anna was gone. And so was Mary Anne. All that was in the right spot was Aleksandr's body. He called his mother and she came over. "So this is what happened to him?" Elissavetta asked. "Who did it?"

"A girl named Mary Anne," Elijah said. "A vampire, turned by Niklaus. She was originally helping Father with his work, but since Father is currently out of commission, she thought it would be best if she took charge on her own, and thus felt the need to get rid of Aleksandr."

Elissavetta sighed. "I know you might be opposed to this, but maybe we should go and release your father. I mean, Selina's had Gregory, and she's been good lately, so what reason would he have to want to go after her? And it was your father's being gone that made this Mary Anne person kill your brother."

Elijah shook his head. "Father doesn't forget easily, Mother. Even after all these years, he still has the memories of those Selina killed ingrained deeply in his brain. He feels she did wrong and has to pay for it, despite the fact that she's behaved herself and given birth to his grandson. No, Mother. Under no circumstances should we release Father."

"Then what do you intend to do about this?" Elissavetta asked. "We can't just let it go unpunished. We can't!"

Elijah sighed. "I know, Mother. And when I think of a way, Aleksandr will finally be avenged."

* * *

><p>"Vince!" Roxie called. "Come here! I got another splinter. And there's a dead rat in the basement. I don't want to touch it anymore. I think it has rabies or something."<p>

Vince came downstairs. "How many rats is that today? Three? Six? Eight?"

"Ten," Roxie said. "And I can hear more scratching around down there." She gagged. "Can I stop? Please? I want to stop."

Vince sighed. "All right. For today, you can stop."

"What's the point of all this?" she asked him. "Why did you even bring me here? What are you trying to prove?"

"Why did you kill those people?" Vince asked. "For god's sake, Roxie, that first woman was pregnant! Are you so spiteful that you'd ruin an innocent person's life because you feel bad that your mother is happy with your uncle and you're not?"

"It's not being spiteful," Roxie said. "Vince, I have to kill people. I'm a predator. It's what I do."

"Well, if you want to be with me at all, you're going to stop," he said. "I only date _people_."

"I only killed the first woman!" Roxie said. "The other two drowning victims were just stupid. I had nothing to do with them."

"Give me your hand," Vince said. He pulled a needle out of his pocket and stuck it under her splinter. Roxie shut her eyes. "Will this hurt much?" She asked.

"It'll hurt just as much as it hurt when I took out the other splinters," Vince said. He rolled his eyes. "My god, you've had enough of them. You should be used to this by now."

"No," Roxie shook her head. "I don't want to be used to this! Ever! Not the vermin, not the dirt, not the splinters! You get me out of here right now!"

Jus then, one of their cell phones rang. They went up the stairs to answer it, but Charlie got hold of it first. "Hello? Oh, hi, Selina."

"What's my mom doing calling my number?" Roxie whispered.

"What's up?" Charlie asked. "Yeah, sure Roxie's here." She handed Roxie the phone. "Your mother wants to talk to you. About something important."

Roxie rolled her eyes and took the phone. "What's going on, Mother?"

"You're going to think I'm ridiculous for bringing this up, but you haven't done anything bad recently, have you?" Selina asked.

"Define 'bad'," Roxie said. "Have I stolen money, have I compelled someone and cheated at school, have I-"

"Have you killed anyone?" Selina blurted out. "Roxanne, have you killed anyone?"

"Why?" Roxie asked. "Why would that matter?"

"I'll tell you after you answer the question," Selina said shortly.

"Well, there _was_ one person," Roxie said. "I killed her in Vegas after I found out you and Uncle Elijah were expecting."

"Well, one person isn't the worst you could do," Selina said.

"Does it matter that it got TV news coverage?" Roxie asked. "It was a pregnant woman. I strangled her and dumped her in a fountain."

Roxie heard a strangled gasp on the other end of the line. "Oh, my god," Selina said. "How could you do something like that? I would have thought that even you wouldn't go that far."

"Yeah, save me the lecture," Roxie said. "Vince has told me it all before and now he's dragged me off to Hillbilly hell. He's forcing me to live in a shack in the country and cook meals and kill vermin."

"Well, good for him," Selina said. "I hope he keeps you there for a _long_ time."

"Wow, Mom," Roxie said. "Way to be vindictive about something that's just as much your fault as it is mine. Now did you just call to berate me, or did you have something else you wanted to say?"

"Actually, I did," Selina said. Her voice had become quiet now. "You know about Mary Anne, right? The little girl your father turned back during my bad period?"

"Yeah," Roxie nodded. "The one you hated and wanted to kill yourself."

Selina cleared her throat. "Yes, well, she's apparently killed your Uncle Aleksandr and is out and about now. With your uncle's father out of commission, I thought we'd all be safe, but Mary Anne's just as fanatical about catching vampire miscreants as he was, maybe even more, so since you _have_ killed someone and it's been all over the news, just watch out for Mary Anne. She might be after you to, and even though we've had differences of opinion over the years, it still took a lot for me to bring you into this world and I don't want you to die."

Roxie was silent for a moment. "All right," she said finally. "I mean, we're in the middle of nowhere, so I doubt she'll be able to find us, but I promise we'll keep an eye out for her, Mother."

* * *

><p>"So did you tell Roxanne about Mary Anne?" Elijah asked Selina that night. "And did she believe you?"<p>

Selina nodded and put her arms around him. "I told her. And she really seemed to be listening this time. She says that Vince has taken her to a cabin or something in the middle of nowhere. It was almost like he knew about Mary Anne ahead of time. Or else he was just damn lucky. She says that she and her friends will keep an eye out for Mary Anne and be cautious if she shows up. Because Roxie _has_ killed someone, a nationwide case with lots of TV coverage, so there's no way Mary Anne wouldn't know about it. Roxie would definitely be Mary Anne's next target, considering I haven't done anything." She sighed. "Look, what do you want to do tonight? I know you've had a long day and I'd be more than happy to spend the night with Gregory so you can have peace, quiet and no distractions."

Elijah sighed. "That might be best," he said. "I just really need to be able to sleep tonight and as lovely as you are, because of that, you're a _very big _distraction."

Selina grinned. "That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me." She put her hands in the back pockets of his jeans and squeezed. His eyes widened. "What did you do _that _for?"

She winked. "I just wanted a little something to tide me over and I thought you wouldn't mind." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss his forehead. "Goodnight, honey. Try and sleep well. We'll have fun tomorrow." She spanked him twice and then walked up the stairs, shaking her butt a little.

"You really _are_ shameless, you know," he said, trying not to laugh. Or run after her, grab her and have his way with her right there on the stairs.

"Oh, I know," she said, not turning to face him. "But that's what makes you love me so much." When she got to Gregory's room, she shut the door behind her and burst out laughing. She really shouldn't have done that. He _did_ need his sleep, and it wasn't fair of her to have worked him up like that, but it was just so much _fun._

Her giggles startled Gregory, who started crying. Selina undressed to her underwear and fed him, cradling him in her arms. "It's okay," she said. "Mommy was just having a little fun at Daddy's expense but she's done now." She sat down in the rocking chair next to his crib and began rocking him slowly back and forth, humming a tune her mother used to hum when she'd been in a good mood, which hadn't been often. Once Gregory was asleep, she tucked him in, got in her pajamas and crawled into bed, falling asleep right away.

* * *

><p>Damon was glad Lucy had gone sleep somewhere else that night. Maybe he'd finally be able to get some peace and quiet. He'd gotten a call from Sam, saying that he planned to come home now that Lucy had moved somewhere else. He'd apparently moved into an apartment with a girl he'd met and she was getting a little too close for comfort.<p>

After he'd hung up the phone, Damon had sighed. He recognized this pattern of behavior, this not being able to commit to anyone. He'd had it himself, starting when he was about sixteen or so. Louisa Forbes had been the first of his conquests and she too had become too close for comfort. And yet, she'd never really let him go.

Selina had really been the only steady female presence in his life after his mother had fallen off her horse and died. She'd expected more from him, looked up to him, made him feel like he could accomplish things. Like he was worth something. And then he'd been stupid and left her.

Things had been bad for him while she'd been gone, but they'd gotten together for a time. Then, she'd left him. Left Sam. Didn't she understand what she was to both of them? She was the one reason they had for being good at all. No one else saw them as worth anything. He shook his head and sighed. Oh, well. He'd just have to deal with it. He couldn't change what didn't want to be changed.

He climbed into bed and shut his eyes, drifting easily into sleep...

When he opened his eyes again, the bedroom door was open a crack and he could hear breathing outside. "Who is it?" he called. "Is someone outside?"

The door opened farther and a woman entered the room. It took awhile for him to realize who it was, but he finally saw that it was Selina, wearing a ruby bra and panties and a gauzy bathrobe, which she untied and shrugged off, letting it glide to the floor. "Hi," she said. "Any room in the bed there for me?"

"Sure," he said. "But won't your husband mind? Does he know you're here?"

Selina sashayed over to the bed and climbed in beside him. "Of course he doesn't know," she said, running her fingers through his hair. "You're not gonna tell him, are you?" She kissed his forehead, her red lipstick making her lips look really full.

"No," he managed to get out. "I won't if you won't."

She nodded, easing herself down under the blankets and pulling down his boxers and running her fingers over him. "I made a mistake leaving you," she said. "Would you let me come back if I said I was sorry?"

He moaned and flipped her over so he was on top. "All right," he said. "How sorry are you?" She kissed down his neck. "I'm _very_ sorry. So sorry, I'll let you do whatever you want to me."

They were enthuasiastically making love when they heard a knock on the bedroom door. "Who is it?" Damon called.

"It's the police," said a female voice he vaguely recognized. "And I'm coming in!"

She kicked the door down and Selina let out a shriek and covered herself up. The officer walked into the room and peered at them from the foot of the bed. "I see you've been enjoying yourself," she said. She locked eyes with Selina and then came to the side of the bed. "I'd leave if I were you," she said. "We've been cracking down on girls like you lately."

"What will you do if I don't?" Selina asked.

"I'll have to take you downtown," the officer said. "It would be easier if you just left."

"Are you serious?" Selina asked.

The officer nodded, a wisp of short blonde hair falling from her cap. "Do you want to try your luck?"

"No," Selina said. "I'll go!" She got out of bed, put on her panties, grabbed her robe and then scampered out of the room. "Now as for you," the officer said, looking at Damon and pulling off her cap. "I wonder what I should do with you..."

"Lucy...?" Damon whispered when she was next to the bed. She pulled off the top layer of her uniform so that her long dark pants were Daisy Dukes and her shirt was tied up in a knot showing off her midriff.

"Yeah, it's me," she said, grabbing his wrist and slamming a handcuff on it, attaching the other cuff to the bedpost. "So, what do you think the appropriate punishment is for a guy who goes after a married woman when there are other perfectly lovely single women available, hmmm?"

"Oh, I don't know," Damon said. "What do _you_ think it should be?"

She licked her lips. "I'm gonna make sure you never do something like this again." She untied and unbuttoned her shirt and eased off her shorts, climbing into bed beside him, running her hands over him as Selina had before he went into her and made her screech. They rolled around on the bed for awhile and then finally rolled over far enough that they fell off the bed and hit the floor hard. That was what woke him up. He sat up feeling very warm and quickly showered and dressed. He left his room and went to the kitchen to get breakfast, starting violently when he saw Lucy sitting at the table, grinning at him. "So," she said, "How did you sleep last night?"

* * *

><p>When Selina opened her eyes, she let out the beginning of a shriek before she was shushed. "Don't scream," Elijah said. "You'll wake up Gregory!"<p>

She blinked a couple of times to make sure that it really _was_ him in the bed beside her and not some hallucination. "What are you _doing _in here?" She whispered, running a hand down his abs. "You were supposed to be getting a good night's sleep by yourself!"

He grinned and ran his hand over her butt. "You'll have to forgive me," he said. "But I got lonely. And that perfume of yours really permeated the sheets and the pillowcases, so can you blame me for not being able to spend a night by myself?" He took her in his arms and put her underneath him, kissing her.

"Well, I suppose I _can't_ blame you," Selina said. "Although _I _slept pretty well." She kissed him. "I'm sorry I got you all worked up last night. I'm naughty like that."

He grinned. "Well, yes you are." Just then, they heard gurgling. Gregory was awake. Selina got out of bed, went to get him and brought him back to bed with them. "I have a feeling that this might be a much better day," she said.


	37. Who's That Girl?

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked Damon. "Are you gonna answer my question?"

"What question?" Damon asked, laughing uneasily.

"The question about how you slept last night," Lucy said. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Oh, yeah," Damon said. "I slept _fine._"

Lucy stood up from her chair and strode toward him. "You mean you didn't have any strange _dreams_ at all?"

Damon swallowed as she closed in on him. "No...just the usual. Which I will thank _you_ not to interrupt, seeing as how it's none of your business."

"What makes you think I had anything to do with it?" Lucy asked. "Maybe your subconscious is telling you that you're starting to like Mom less and me more."

"Aha!" Damon said. "You _did_ have something to do with last night. You wouldn't have any idea that I usually have dreams about your mother unless you were in my head."

"Or it could be that I just have eyes," Lucy said. "I've only watched you shamelessly try and flirt with her for as long as I can remember." She put her hands on her hips. "You really should be ashamed of yourself, you know."

Damon smirked at her. "Oh, please. I refuse to be lectured on my morals by Lolita."

"I'm with her on this one," Joshua said. "You really need to let Mother go, Father."

Lucy turned. "Well, thank you," she said to Joshua. "I don't mind help from an unexpected quater."

"Now calm now a minute," Joshua said at once. "I'm not saying I side with you either."

"Well, you have to side with _somebody_," Lucy said. "If you want him to lay off of Mom, then who's left?"

"Go find a boy your own age," Joshua said gently. "At school. You'll be much happier if you do, I promise."

Lucy sighed. "I doubt it, but I'll give it a shot." She gave Damon a look. "But that doesn't necessarily mean I'm giving up on you though. "Remember that."

"Oh, Lucy," Damon said, "I don't think you'd make it easy for me to forget." He sobered. "At all."

* * *

><p>"Do you think I'm a horrible mother?" Selina asked Elijah.<p>

He watched her cradling Gregory and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "Of course not," he said. "Don't be silly. Why would you even think that?"

"Well, Lucy's been gone for _months _and I just realized I haven't even called to check on her once," Selina said. "For god's sake, she's only six years old! I'm right near negligent! And Roxie went off and left when _she_ was six and did I care? _No_! My god, what is _wrong_ with me?"

"Nothing," Elijah said calmly. "And it's not like you can't go and call Lucy right now. In fact, it's probably the perfect time. You can see if she's signed up for school all right, and if she's not, you can go take care of that yourself. And don't feel bad about Roxie. You do all you can for her. Anything else that's happened isn't your fault."

"I guess," Selina said. She looked down at Gregory. "I want Gregory to grow up all right," she said. "I want him to be as normal as he possibly can be." Gregory looked at her for a moment, then spit up all over his clothes.

"I'll take him," Elijah said. "You call Lucy. It'll make you feel better."

Damon picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Damon, it's Selina," the voice said on the other end of the line. "I know we haven't talked in awhile. How are you?"

"I'm good," Damon said. "Can't complain."

"How's Sam?"

"He's great. He misses you a lot but I explained that you haven't had a lot of time to stop by what with having to take care of the new baby and everything."

"But that's no excuse," Selina said. "I should stop by soon. When would be a good time?"

"No time soon," Damon said, trying to stay calm. "Sam and Lucy have gone on a trip with Stefan and Anna and they won't be back for awhile."

"Really?" Selina asked. "I hope that won't get in the way of them starting school. It won't, will it?"

"No," Damon said. "It won't. They'll get to school all right. Trust me. You just relax and keep your mind on raising that new baby of yours."

"All right," Selina said. "Thanks for taking care of things, Damon. It's nice to have someone to count on."

"Oh, you're welcome," Damon said, his heart sinking a little. "I'm glad to help."

"Who were you talking to?" Sam asked, coming down the stairs. Damon turned and started a little. It was scary how much teenage Sam resembled him.

"No one you'd be interesed in," Damon said after a moment. "Just a sales person."

Sam nodded and sat down at the kitchen table. "When are we gonna call Mom?" He said. "I want to see her."

"I know you do," Damon said. "But that can't happen until either Lenora changes you back to the age you're supposed to be _or_ we think up a cunningly plausible excuse as to why you've suddenly aged ten years. If either of those things happen, let me know."

"So is Lucy all right?" Elijah asked when Selina came back. "Did you get to talk to her?"

Selina shook her head. "No. Damon said she was out on a trip with Stefan and won't be back for a while. But he promised that everything concerning her, Sam and school was taken care of."

"Good," Elijah said. "I hope we can talk to her later, though. I've really missed her."

* * *

><p>A week later, Lucy found herself waking up in time for her first day of school. "Are you nervous?" Mimi asked.<p>

Lucy shook her head. "No. I'm ready! I can't wait to start learning stuff."

Mimi smiled. "What a refreshing thing to hear from a girl your age."

Lucy nodded. "I know, right? Most girls my age only think about how to get a boy, but not me! I'm all about learning."

"Oh, not all the time, I hope," Mimi said. "Take some time to be a kid too. Moderation is the key in everything."

"I thought that was only about food," Lucy said.

"It's good advice that can pertain to a lot of things," Mimi said. She looked at the clock. "Almost time for you to go. I can drive you if you'd like."

Lucy nodded. "All right. Thank you."

* * *

><p>"Well, look who's here," Sam said when he found Lucy outside the school building. "Lucy, with her books and her pencils and her new backpack. How did you get here?"<p>

"I got a ride," Lucy said. "What about you? Did you steal your dad's car or something?"

Sam shook his head. "I didn't have to steal it. I drove it here because I have a little thing called a driver's license and _you_ don't!"

"I could if I wanted to," Lucy said. "Or I could just take someone's car and drive it whenever I wanted."

"What if a policeman caught up to you?" Sam asked. "What would you do then?"

"I would compel them to go away," Lucy said.

Sam burst out laughing. "Oh, I just _bet_ you wouldn't!" He looked at her high necked shirt that was buttoned to the top. "You can't even stand to have your top button unbuttoned. You sure as hell wouldn't commit a crime! Even a small one!"

"I could too!" Lucy said. "And it would make me legendary, let me tell you that!"

"I'll believe that when I see it," Sam said.

She followed him inside the school building and went to the office to get her schedule and locker assignment.

"Who is this?" asked a tall man with small, water eyes, a large nose and an even larger midsection asked the woman at the office reception desk.

"This is Lucy Mikaelson," she said. "She's new."

He held out his hand and shook Lucy's firmly. "I'm Mr. Adams, Lucy. I'm the principal. I hope your time here with us will be productive for you."

Lucy nodded. "Oh, yes it will, sir. I'm pleased to meet you."

He left and she looked down at her schedule. "I have no idea where any of these rooms are," she said. "Is 311A far from here?"

"I could take you," a male voice said. "I have class in that room too." Lucy looked up and saw a boy striding toward her. Although he was no Damon, he was good-looking in his own way, with light eyes and dark hair similar to Damon's and jeans that frayed at the knees. He wore a KISS t-shirt under a jacket.

"Hi," she said. "Thanks for doing this."

"It's no problem," he said. "I'm Jason, by the way. Did I hear that your name is Lucy?"

"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "I just started today."

"I figured that," he said. "I would have noticed if you were here before now. I could take your books for you if you want. They look heavy and you seem to have an awful lot of them."

"I like learning!" Lucy said. Her tone was nearing defensive.

"I don't have a problem with that," he said. "But you won't need a lot of books for your class in 311A. It's painting with Mr. Hensley. He's a good guy."

"Painting?" Lucy said. "I love painting!"

"Good," Jason said. "And just so you won't feel lonely, I'll help you set up your easel next to mine."

"Thanks," Lucy said. "That would be great."

* * *

><p>"Thanks for coming so quickly," Damon said when Stefan strode into the house that day around lunch time. "I could use the company."<p>

Stefan nodded. "I figured you'd be lonely without Lucy around."

"Why would you say that?" Damon asked. "Lucy has nothing to do with anything! I have other things that I think about besides Lucy, okay? Can we just talk about something else?"

"Okay, okay!" Stefan said, sitting down. "What's the matter with you?"

"I need a drink," Damon said. "Do you want one?"

"Sure," Stefan said. "I've been a bit lonely myself, actually. Anna decided to go stay with her mother since her brother got killed."

"I'm sorry," Damon said. They sat in silence for a moment.

"What do you say we get out and walk around?" Stefan said. "Get some fresh air and all that? I could use some."

"Well all right," Damon said. They drove to a small restaurant downtown and saw that there was one table with empty seats. There was one girl at the table. She had blonde hair and her face was buried in a book. Stefan walked over to the table and tapped on it lightly. "Excuse me," he said. "Do you mind if we sit here?"

The girl put her book down and looked at them through glasses with tortoise shell frames. "Sure," she said. "Have a seat. I don't mind."

"No," Damon said. "We don't have to." He looked at Stefan. "We have to go somewhere else."

"Why?" Stefan asked. "This is fine. She said it was okay for us to have a seat!"

"We can't sit here because that's Lucy," Damon whispered, pointing at the girl. "I swear!"

Stefan smirked. "No, it isn't! Lucy's six years old! Have you completely lost your mind?"

Lucy looked back and forth between them. "What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Stefan said. "It's fine. My brother here just thinks you remind him of someone. A someone who happens to be six years old."

She grinned. "I have been told I look young for my age, but never that young!"

Just then, Stefan's phone rang. He picked it up. "Hello? Nick, yes, hi! Damon and I are at a place downtown having a conversation with a very charming young lady. Do you want to join us? All right. It's that place across from the Pizza Hut on West 3rd Street. Yeah, the one with the picture of the American flag in the window. See you in a few minutes." As soon as he put his phone down, Damon stood up. "I'm gonna go."

"I'm sorry," Lucy said. "I hope you're not going because of _me_." Damon started to walk away and she followed him. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Let me explain, would you?"

"How can you explain making me feel like a complete idiot?" Damon asked.

Lucy sighed. "I'm sorry, okay? I promise I'll tell everyone the truth, but not now, all right? It's not the right time."

"Well, with your dad coming, are you gonna go somewhere else, or are you gonna take a risk and stay?" Damon asked.

Lucy shrugged. "Well, I don't see what the risk would be. No one knows who I really am except you. This could be fun. Again, I'm sorry. I'll stop by your house later and tell you how my day went."

Damon just lookd at her, shook his head and walked off. Then, Lucy turned to head back to the table where Stefan sat alone. "I'm really sorry if I made your friend uncomfortable," she said to Stefan. "Sometimes, I just have that effect on people."

"Oh, don't blame yourself," Stefan said. "He's just like that sometimes." Stefan looked up then and waved. "Speaking of friends of mine, here comes another one."

It was then that her father came and sat down directly across from her. "Hello," he said.

"Hi," Lucy said, trying keep herself calm and not blurt out anything she might regret. "You've probably figured this out, but I'm the very charming young lady your friend mentioned on the phone."

Klaus took Lucy's hand and kissed it and then looked over at Stefan. "You said she was charming, but you didn't say she was pretty! How could you forget to mention that?"

"What about Caroline?" Stefan asked. "I thought you were with her! You moved Selina's uncle into your house just so Alistair would stop being on your back for the fact that you live unchaperoned with a woman you aren't married to."

"As I told Alistair," Klaus said patiently, "Caroline and I are living together at this point because she could no longer stand living with Selina's mother. Now whether or not it evolves into something greater than that is yet to be seen. Until then, we have both decided that we will do as we please when it comes to our relationships."

"Am I your type?" Lucy asked. "Do you even have one?"

Klaus grinned at her. "Funny you should ask me that. In fact, you remind me of my last wife. She's a very pretty woman, just like you. It's a shame we couldn't stay together though. Lucky for her, she lives with my brother now."

He heard Stefan snort and then start coughing. "Are you all right?" He asked him.

"Yeah," Stefan nodded. "I'm fine." He was smirking.

"Are you sure?" Klaus asked.

"Yeah," Stefan nodded. "I am."

It was then that Lucy put her book into her book bag and stood up. "It's been lovely chatting with both of you, but I have to leave now if I'm going to get back to class on time."

"Before you go, you have to promise me one thing," Klaus said. "You have to promise me we'll see each other again."

"Oh, I can promise that," Lucy said. "I can _definitely _promise we'll see each other again."

After school, instead of going straight back to Mimi's, Lucy walked to the park, because even if it was a little chilly, the sun was out and it was nice. She saw her mother sitting on a bench next to her brother who was cozy in his stroller and she went to sit next to them. "Do you mind?" She asked.

"No," Selina said. "Go ahead."

Lucy sat down and looked over at Gregory. "He looks adorable."

Selina grinned. "Thank you. My youngest. Had him about a month ago."

"Your youngest?" Lucy asked. "Meaning you have others?"

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "I have others. But I don't think I've done well with them."

"Why do you think that?" Lucy asked.

"Well, the ones I'm worried about are my daughters. The first one left home after a fight with her father and the second one I sent away during my pregnancy. I can get a little crazy when I'm pregnant and Lucy is so smart I just didn't want to spoil her chances of being all that she could be."

"But that's not screwing up," Lucy said. "You were good to your daughter when you sent her away so that she could have a better learning environment, trust me."

Selina sighed. "And then I forgot to call her and check up on her. I hope she doesn't think I don't care about her. Because I do."

Lucy sighed. "I think she knows that you care about her if she knows you sent her away so she could concentrate better at school. And for heaven's sake, you've got a little baby! They take up lots of time! I bet she understands that."

"You think?" Selina asked.

"I don't think," Lucy said. "I know. Stop being so hard on yourself. You'll be happier that way."

Selina nodded. "Thank you," she said. "Thanks for listening to me ramble when you didn't have to."

"Oh, it's my pleasure," Lucy said. "Really."

* * *

><p>"Who are you?" Damon asked when he opened the door a few months later. The guy on the other side had dark hair and light eyes and looked neat even though he was wearing jeans, a white t-shirt and a leather jacket.<p>

"I'm Jason," he said. "I'm here to see Lucy."

"Oh, the hell you are!" Damon said. "What for?"

"We're studying together," Lucy said, suddenly appearing out of nowhere. "I'm tutoring Jason in history. And in exchange, he's gonna tutor me in a couple of things, if you know what I mean."

Jason's lip quirked. Damon felt himself tense.

"She means artistic stuff," Jason said. "That's all."

"You want to come in?" Lucy asked Jason. "I made us lemonade and cookies just like I promised I would if you got a good grade on the last test."

"Cool," Jason said. "Where did you want to study?"

"The kitchen's a good place," Damon said. "It's really big, it's got a table to put all your books and papers on..."

"And it doesn't have a door that we can close to do nefarious business." Lucy giggled. "Damon relax, would you? You're getting to be as bad as my dad!"

"Oh, I don't think so!" Damon said. "Your dad would be _waaay_ worse!"

After Lucy gave Jason his first study questions, she went to the kitchen to get the refreshments and found that Damon had already scarfed down most of them. "Those cookies were not for you!" she scolded. "They were for Jason and me!"

Damon shook his head. "He doesn't deserve your cookies or your lemonade or your attention or anything. He's a bad guy and I want him out of this house!"

Lucy looked at him, her lips thin. "Well, fine," she said. "I thought I was being considerate when I brought him here to introduce him to you, but obviously, you don't want to be mature about this. You want act like a big baby instead. If you want us out, we'll leave and go to Mimi's!" She left the kitchen and went back to the room where Jason was.

"Who _is_ that guy?" Jason asked. "He seems like a bit of a pill."

"It's hard to explain," Lucy said. "The closest explanation would be that he's kind of like my dad, but that's not quite accurate. Anyway, I have a feeling that if we want to get any studying done, we'll have to go back to Mimi's."

"Really?" Jason asked brightly.

"Yeah," Lucy said. "And I give you permission to put your hand on my butt when we leave."

"I would ask why," Jason said. "Is there something going on between you and him?"

"No," Lucy said. "I told you he was like my dad, remember? Now, we're losing valuable study time. Let's get to Mimi's!"

They left the room and made their way toward the door, and just as Damon poked his crumb covered face out of the kitchen, Jason smoothly placed his hand on Lucy's bottom just long enough for Damon to see it. Lucy grinned at Damon's horrified expression. "Good night," she said, grinning at Damon, who was turning purple. "We're going to Mimi's where she lets us close the door to study. Don't wait up for me."

Once she and Jason were out the door, Jason removed his hand. "How was that?" He asked. "Did I do all right?"

"Well, yeah!" Lucy said. "Didn't you see the look on his _face_?" She sighed. "I'm sorry," she said. "I don't mean to put you in the middle of what's going on with Damon and me. You don't deserve that."

"Oh, it's all right," Jason said because he didn't know what else to say. "Do you think that Mimi will make us dinner again when she sees I'm studying with you?"

"I bet she will," Lucy nodded. "She likes doing it though. It's not just due to your being there. Although being with you _is_ nice."

* * *

><p>"'<em>We're going to Mimi's, where she lets us close the door to study..."<em> Damon took one last gulp from his beer bottle, growled and threw it on the floor. "Study my ass," he grumbled. "I bet the only studying he's doing is of her!" He could just picture it..

_Lucy walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind her. Jason was already sitting on the bed. "So are we really going to study?" He asked. "Do we have to?"_

_"No," Lucy said. "You know the material well enough that I don't think we need to take any more time looking it over. And I think you deserve a reward for that."_

_"What kind of a reward?" Jason asked, looking intrigued._

_"Well, remember earlier today when I let you put your hand on my butt?" Lucy's eyes twinkled. "Well, that was just the beginning. I've decided to let you put your hands wherever you want."_

_She slowly began to strip and once she was in her panties, she put music on and began dancing to it, her dance relying heavily on hip movements and the fact that her chest bounced up and down._

_Jason was beginning to feel very strange. He had the impulse to pick Lucy up, put her on the bed and just kiss her until neither of them could breathe. He stood up and backed her up against the wall, his fingers fumbling to get off her bra, when all of a sudden, he was interrupted by shouts coming from the hallway. One set of shouts sounded like_ _Mimi's_._ The other was male and very angry._

_Just then, the bedroom door burst open and Jason found himself being yanked by his collar and pulled away from Lucy, his body tossed casually into the hallway as the door slammed behind it._

_"Excuse me!" Lucy said when she realized it was Damon who had interrupted her. "Do you mind? We were busy!"_

_"You wanna be busy?" Damon told her. "If you're gonna be busy, the only person you will be busy with is me, do you understand?" She nodded and he pulled her panties down. She kicked them aside and kissed him, and as they kissed, he unzipped his pants and picked her up, making love to her right against the bedroom wall._

* * *

><p>"You should be ashamed of yourself," Damon said when he stormed into Mimi's the next morning. "It's bad enough that you invaded my dreams once. Did you have to do it <em>again<em>?"

"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked. "Are you talking about last night? I didn't do anything to you last night." She grinned. "Did you have dreams about me? Were they hot? Was I naked? Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"You _had_ to have done it!" Damon said. "Because I know myself, and I know that I would _never_ think about you and I doing stuff like we did in the dream."

"Or like we did the first time I came back from Mimi's?" Lucy asked. "You know, Freud says that dreams are manifestations of subconscious sexual desires. In a lot of cases, the theory is bullshit, but in _your_ case," Lucy kissed him deeply, running a hand under his shirt. When she pulled away, she resumed talking. "In your case, he might be right."


	38. Not For the Faint of Heart

"Lucy," Damon said through his teeth, "You need to stop touching me."

"Why?" Lucy asked. She had her fingers in his hair now. "I thought you liked it."

"I do," he said. "And that's the problem. So take your fingers out of my hair right now. And I'm gonna leave and we're not going to do anything that would invade each other's personal space anymore. Am I clear?"

"Let me tell you something," Lucy said. "The more you try and push me away, the harder I'm going to try to get your attention, because I _know_ deep down inside of myself that you're holding back on me. Am I right?"

"Yes," Damon sighed. "But Lucy, you have to understand where I'm coming from. You're practically a daughter to me. Which means that you and I can't, you know, at least not right now."

"But we already have," Lucy said. "I thought that would make things easier for you, but it's only made them worse."

"Do you love me, Lucy?" Damon asked.

She nodded. "Yes. You know I do."

"Well, then," Damon said, "could you please just leave me alone until I tell _you_ it's okay for us to be together? The time will come, I swear. Until it comes, though, I give you permission to be with whomever you want."

"Even Jason?" Lucy asked, an eyebrow going up.

Damon tensed, but he finally managed to get out, "Yes, even Jason."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Mimi opened the front door and found a very grumpy boy standing on the front step. "May I help you?" She asked.<p>

"Is Lucy around?" He asked. "My dad and I are here to give her a ride to school."

Mimi grinned. "Oh, you must be Sam, Lucy's brother. Would you like to come in while I go see if I can find her?"

Sam shrugged. "All right," he said, coming in. "Thanks."

Mimi nodded and then turned. "Lucy!" she called in a piercing voice that made Sam wince. "Somebody's here to take you to school!"

"Is it Jason?" Lucy asked, running toward her.

"No," Mimi said. "It's Sam and his father."

"Oh," Lucy said, "that's very sweet, but I don't need a ride."

"Sure you do," Sam said. "How else are you planning to get to school?"

"Jason said he'd take me," Lucy said. "And he was so sweet about it, I really don't want to inconvenience him by taking a ride with someone else at the last minute."

"Well," Sam said, "you might not want to inconvenience him, but Dad does, so come on!"

"Now just a minute!" Lucy fumed. "You can't just go ordering me around. Where _is_ your dad?"

"Waiting outside," Sam said.

"In his car?" Lucy asked.

"Uh-huh," Sam nodded.

"Well, we'll just get to the bottom of all this then," Lucy said between her teeth and strode out the door to the car where Damon sat waiting for both of them. As Lucy approached, he rolled down the window.

"So you _are _coming with us!" He said with a grin. "Great. Hop in!"

"Actually, I'm not," Lucy said. "Jason asked me if he could take me and I said yes. I really don't want to stand him up, so while I appreciate your generous offer, I'm going to have to decline."

"Oh, no you aren't," Damon said. "You aren't going _anywhere_ alone with that Jason. I don't trust him. He seemed shifty to me."

"Why?" Lucy asked. "He's perfectly nice."

"Well," Damon said, "I don't trust him. He wears rock band t-shirts and has a look about him that I don't like."

"Well, what gives you the right to judge him like that?" Lucy asked. "You're not my father, Damon. In fact, I think my father would say the same thing about _you_."

"We've been through this," Damon said. "I _know_ that I'm not your father, but I'm close enough."

"Can we just _go_?" Sam interrupted. "If she doesn't want to come with us, then she doesn't want to come with us."

"Oh, she's_ coming _with us," Damon said. "Even if I have to tie her to her seat and lock her in the car."

"Fine," Lucy said, eyes narrowed. "I'll come. But we're picking Jason up on the way."

Damon rolled his eyes. "All right. Where does he live?"

Lucy told him and they drove to Jason's house. Damon parked in the street and Lucy got out and ran to the door.

"Well, this is a surprise," Jason said when he came out the door. "Lucy, I was gonna pick _you_ up."

Lucy sighed. "I know, but Damon's fussing about it and he's got my brother involved too. It's just easier to play along when he gets like this. On the bright side, you'll still get to sit next to me."

Jason shrugged and grinned. "Well, all right. I guess I can deal with that." He followed Lucy to the car and she opened the door to the side where Sam was sitting. "Move over," she said. "I'm sitting next to Jason."

"No," Sam said. "I'm happy where I am, thank you."

"Move over please," Lucy said, grabbing his wrist and squeezing. "Or I will _make_ you move. Do you want that?"

"No," Sam said weakly. "I'll move." He scooted over and Lucy climbed into the middle of the backseat and gestured for Jason to climb in beside her.

Sam looked at them. "You two aren't gonna start making out now, are you?"

"You know," Lucy said, looking at Jason, "That's not a bad idea."

They began kissing very enthusiastically and Damon gave Sam a sour look in the rearview mirror. "You just _had_ to give them ideas, didn't you?" He hit the steering wheel with his palm. "So much for a peaceful ride to school."

"Hey," Sam said. "At least you don't have to _sit_ with them back here."

"Well, that's your own fault," Damon said. "Next time, keep your mouth shut."

* * *

><p>A few days later, Lucy stopped by Sam's locker. "I know you have that concert you have to get to tonight, but since you have your car back from the shop and your dad doesn't have to drive you anymore, could you give me a ride after school?"<p>

"Why can't precious Jason do it?" Sam asked. "Isn't that your entire relationship? You make out with him and he gives you rides places?"

"That's not what's going on at all!" Lucy said. "I help him out with history too!"

"Uh-huh," Sam grinned. "And I bet he returns the favor in other ways."

"Oh, you mean just like the cheerleaders do for you?" Lucy asked.

Sam shrugged, hefting his guitar case. "What can I say, Luce?" He replied. "Ladies love musicians. Meet me out front after last period and I'll give you a ride home. But just to warn you: Dad's got a new girlfriend. Her name's Ginger. You'll like her. She's nice."

Grinning at Lucy's stunned expression, he strode off, happily whistling to himself.

* * *

><p>After school, Sam dropped Lucy off at the driveway and then sped off. Lucy looked at the house for a moment, took a deep breath and then strode toward the house. She reached the door and put her finger on the doorbell so that it emitted a sustained buzzing noise.<p>

"Just a minute!" A female voice yelled. "I'm coming!" The door opened and revealed a leggy, heavily made up brunette on the other side. "What do you want?" She asked, looking Lucy over. "Isn't it a bit late in the year to be selling Girl Scout cookies?"

"I'm not selling anything," Lucy said. "I want to come in."

"Nobody comes in unless I know who they are," the woman said. "So who the hell are you?"

"My name's Lucy," Lucy said. "I know Damon. If he's here, you can go ask him."

"No, it's all right," the woman said. "He _did_ mention a Lucy that comes by here sometimes. I was expecting you to be a lot older."

"Well, I'm not," Lucy said. She stepped in the house and looked the woman over, tight dress, fishnet stockings and all. "So where did you and Damon meet?" She asked. "A bar?"

"Yeah," She nodded. "My name's Ginger."

"_You're_ Ginger?" Lucy asked. "Sam said I'd like you, so I was expecting someone a lot classier. But apparently, I was wrong."

Ginger growled but before she could say anything, Damon appeared. "So the two of you have met," he said. "How nice."

"Yeah," Lucy said. "It was a pleasure. Now I have to do something real quick, so if you'll excuse me-" She left and Ginger looked at Damon. "Who's she? You told me you didn't have any other girlfriends."

"I don't," Damon said easily. "It's hard to explain what my relationship is with her, but she is _not_ my girlfriend. I swear."

"Well, okay," Ginger said. "I've been in that situation before, so I just want to check."

But it was when they were watching television that everything seemed to get shot to hell. Lucy strode into the living room quite suddenly, naked and dripping wet. She stopped right in front of the television and faced them. "Damon," she asked, "are there any cookies left? I'm taking a bath and you _know _how I like to eat things in the bath."

"What's going on here?" Ginger asked as Damon reddened. "They're on the table," Damon said quickly. "Take them and get back to your bath, Lucy."

Lucy went to the kitchen, grabbed a handful of cookies and walked right up to Ginger. "I eat a lot of these, you know," she said, whispering it to her. "Damon even calls me Cookie Monster because of it. Isn't that the sweetest nickname you've ever heard? Speaking of," she said, looking at Damon, "if you want to join me in the bath, I'd be more than willing to wait for you." Then she noticed the angry look on Damon's face and straightened up. "I'm going to go now." She turned slightly to see what was on the television. "The two of you enjoy your movie. I'm sorry I interrupted." Then, she scampered to the bathroom, giggling unrestrained once the door was closed.

* * *

><p>The next day was a Saturday and Lucy was awakened around half past eleven by a knock on her bedroom door.<p>

"What is it?" She called.

"There's a guy here to see you," Mimi called. "Someone completely new. Not Jason, or Sam or his father. He says it's urgent."

"All right," Lucy said. "Would you tell him that I'll be down in a minute?"

"Of course," Mimi said. "I'll suggest he survey my gallery while you dress. I assume that's what you need to do?"

"Exactly," Lucy said. "Thank you, Mimi."

After she dressed, Lucy hurried downstairs and found Stefan sitting on the sofa in Mimi's sitting room with a Coke in his hand.

"Sorry you couldn't have a bourbon or something like that," she said. "Mimi doesn't really drink all that much. So, what's so urgent?"

"Your father wants to see you again," Stefan said. "He wants you to come by for lunch today. I told him that I knew where you lived and promised I'd relay the message."

"What's so urgent about that?" Lucy asked. "I would _love_ to have lunch with Dad."

"But remember, he doesn't know that you're you. He thinks you're someone else. You have to watch that," Stefan reminded her.

"You mean you haven't told him the truth yet?" Lucy asked. "Why not?"

"Because," Stefan said seriously, "If I told him the truth about who you are, I'd be obligated to tell him the truth about other things too. Even you and Damon. You don't want me to do that, do you?"

"You know about me and Damon?" Lucy asked. "How _could_ you? I haven't even told anyone!"

"Well, you probably don't remember this, but when you were about a year and a half old, Helene accidently put a spell on you that made you older, and you stayed with Damon so your father and your uncle wouldn't find out, and there were times when Damon gave you looks then that worried me," Stefan said.

"Well you shouldn't be worried," Lucy said. "It only happened once and it's not gonna happen again."

"You _know_ once would be one time too many for your father," Stefan said. "Especially now. I mean, have you looked at yourself?"

"Well, yeah," Lucy said. "But Dad has no room to talk, really. Last time he was practically flirting with me himself. Does he have a girlfriend yet?"

Stefan sighed. "Occasionally he does. But it's nothing set in stone."

"Is it Caroline?" Lucy asked excitedly. "I _like_ her."

"Yes," Stefan nodded. "It's Caroline. And I think she'll be around today."

"Well, what are we just sitting here for, then?" Lucy asked. "Let's go!"

* * *

><p>"Ah, so you <em>found<em> her, Stefan!" Klaus said. "This is delightful." He looked at Lucy. "I'm so glad you could come."

Lucy grinned and followed Stefan inside. "When Stefan showed up at my apartment building and told me about your invitation, I couldn't say no."

Just then, Caroline came in. "Who's that?" She asked, looking at Lucy.

"She's a friend of mine," Klaus said. "Her name is-"

"Lily," Lucy said quickly. "Lily Warren."

"Warren?" Caroline said. "Are you related to Selina?"

"Yes," Lucy nodded. "Distant family of hers. I'm just visiting for school."

"Ah," Caroline said. "She lives near here. You should go over to her house and say hello."

"I've seen her," Lucy said. "Introduced myself to her in the park the other day." She looked around. "So is it time to eat yet?"

"No," Klaus said. "About another twenty minutes or so. But feel free to wander around and look at things if you'd like."

Lucy nodded. "All right." She left and Caroline said to Klaus, "She seems nice. Where did you find her?"

"Damon and I ran into her actually," Stefan said. "We decided to go out for lunch one day and there she was, sitting alone at a table reading a book. We sat with her and the rest is history."

"You know," Klaus said, "It's funny that she said she's a relative of Selina's, because the first time we met, I told her she reminded me of Selina." He looked at Stefan. "Do you remember that?"

Stefan nodded. "I do. And now we know why."

"This might sound absolutely ridiculous since the two of you have known Selina much longer than I have," Caroline said, "but if you ask me, she seems more like Selina than a distant relative should."

"What do you mean?" Klaus asked.

Caroline shrugged. "I don't know. Don't mind me. I'm probably just being silly. I'll go check on how lunch is doing. You two just keep talking amongst yourselves."

* * *

><p>While she was wandering around, Lucy came across a door that was open. She went inside and found that no one was there, but saw an open book lying on the table. She read the page it was open to and then flipped through some of the others. Just then, she heard a voice. "What are you doing in here?" It asked. It wasn't angry, merely curious.<p>

"Oh," Lucy said quickly, "I didn't mean to intrude and mess up your stuff. I'm sorry."

The man smiled at her. He had sandy-colored hair and brown eyes. He seemed like a very warm person. "It's all right," he said. "I have people like you come in here all the time."

"People like me?" Lucy repeated. "What am I like?"

He shut the book. "Werewolves," he supplied, putting a firm but gentle hand on her shoulder. "Klaus brings new ones home to me a lot because I'm a bit of a know-it-all when it comes to werewolf knowledge."

Lucy shook her head. "I'm not a werewolf. At least I don't _think _I am. My name is Lucy."

"Well, hi, Lucy," the man said. "I'm Jake. Now, are you _sure_ you're not a werewolf?"

Lucy nodded. "I'm sure. I'm a vampire, yes. You can't be a vampire and a werewolf at the same time."

"Klaus is," Jake said. "And his wife-well, she's his _ex-_wife now. And any kids they had."

"Klaus is my dad," Lucy said. "So I guess that means I _am_ a werewolf."

"Do you change at the full moon?" Jake asked.

Lucy shook her head. "No."

"Well then you're not a werewolf," Jake said. "You'd know if you were because not only would you transform at the full moon, you'd have to kill someone first."

"I've never killed anyone!" Lucy said, looking affronted. "And I never plan to, either."

Jake laughed. "You sound like my sister. She wasn't really a fan of our lycanthropic side either. That's why it was so hard for her and Selina to get along."

"How do you know my mom?" Lucy asked.

"I'm her uncle," Jake said. "Her mother Amelia's older brother."

"Sorry I didn't know about you before," Lucy said. "It's just that Mom doesn't talk about her family much."

"And that's a real shame," Jake said. "We're good people, I promise."

"I believe you," Lucy said earnestly. "So the only symptom of being a werewolf is changing into a wolf at the full moon?"

Jake shook his head. "There are others that you don't have to be an active wolf to show. Like, do you have a temper sometimes?"

Lucy nodded. "I'm usually pretty nice, but when I'm around my brother and he makes me mad, I just, I get this overwhelming urge to hurt him because he's so annoying. Is that a werewolf thing?"

"Yes," Jake nodded. "Anything else?"

Lucy blushed. "Well there might be _one _more thing. There's this guy I really like and every time I see him, I get a bit...agressive. Way more than I would normally."

"By your blush, I assume you mean you get aggressive sexually?" Jake asked. "Like you really pursue him?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah. Like the other day, this other woman was at his house and I went to take a bath and walked in front of both of them _naked_ while they were watching television. How immature is that of me?"

"Did you feel the urge to kill the other woman?" Jake asked.

Lucy shook her head. "No, but I knew I had to do whatever I needed to in order to get her away from the guy that I liked."

"That's strange that you're so mellow," Jake said. "Usually, a female werewolf who came from two werewolf parents, i.e. yourself, automatically feels the need to kill a rival. I mean, look at your sister Roxanne for a prime example of how werewolves of your type usually are."

"But why?" Lucy asked.

"Werewolves, for the most part, mate for life and once they choose the mate they like, females especially get very territorial of their mates. This man you like is obviously yours," Jake said. "And your response toward him is typical and nothing to worry about."

"Really?" Lucy asked. "Well, that's a relief. Wait until he hears."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Jake?" Caroline said, "Have you seen-" She trailed off when she saw Lucy. "Oh, there you are, Lily. It's time for lunch. Jake, you can come along too, if you'd like."

"Thank you, Caroline," Jake said, taking Lucy's arm. "I think I will."

* * *

><p>After school a few days later, Lucy called Helene to ask if she could take care of Lenora. Helene said yes and Lucy came to pick her up.<p>

"Where are we going?" Lenora asked.

"Back to Damon's," Lucy said. "I need you to do a favor for me."

"What?" Lenora asked, her eyes wide.

"I want to see you do some magic," Lucy said. "And there's just the person at Damon's house for you to practice on."

"But Mommy says I can't do magic on people," Lenora said. "Unless it's on accident."

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind about this," Lucy said. "It's a very mean lady you're practicing on."

"Well, okay," Lenora said. "But only because she's a meanie." They arrived at Damon's and went inside, finding, as Lucy thought they would, Ginger sitting alone on the sofa, her long legs stretching the length of it.

"Oh," she said, looking at Lucy sourly. "It's you."

"That's the woman you practice on," Lucy whispered. Lenora moved her hand and Ginger turned into a dog, a horse, a monkey, and then finally a camel. She looked at them for a moment before spitting on the carpet.

Lenora looked up at her and then ran for Damon, yelling, "Damon, there's a camel in the living room!"

"And just _why_ is there a camel in the living room?" Damon asked, wincing as it spit again.

"I falled down and my hand slipped," Lenora said. "It was a accident!"

"Where's Ginger?" Damon asked.

Lenora pointed at the camel. "Right there."

Damon frowned at Lucy, who was trying hard not to laugh and failing. "What's so funny?" He asked her.

"This whole situation," Lucy said. "I mean just think of it. I bring Lenora over here just for a change of scenery and that leads to your slutty girlfriend being turned into a camel! What _are_ the odds?"

"Would you change her back, please?" Damon asked Lenora, disregarding Lucy.

Lenora sighed. "Okay, but I don't think she's gonna like you anymore!" She pointed again and the camel turned back into a very disgruntled Ginger.

"Do they come around a lot?" She asked Damon angrily, pointing at Lucy and Lenora.

"We do," Lucy said. "Is that a problem for you?"

"You listen to me, honey," Ginger said. "Apparently, there's only enough room for one of us in this house and it ain't gonna be me who leaves."

"Oh, I think it will be," Lucy said. "I was here first. And by the way, he really likes me better. He's just using you to run away from his feelings."

Ginger slapped Lucy hard, then she felt herself shrinking, and growing fur, ears and a tail. In the end, a white kitten sat on the living room floor where Ginger had been.

"And I'm _not_ turning her back," Lenora said to Damon. "She was a mean lady and now she's something nice." She picked Ginger up and held her out to Damon. "See? She's soft. I think I'll call her Snowball."

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry about what happened with Ginger," Lucy said later that night. "But she was all wrong for you. You have to admit that."<p>

"I don't want to talk about it," Damon said. "I don't really care anymore. Let's just do what you came to do, and then you can leave."

He looked at Lucy, who now wore lacy panties and a matching bra with an open pink silk robe. "Before we do this," she said, approaching the bed, "Tell me something: Did you really love Mom? At all?"

"Of course I did!" Damon said. "If you think somehow that she was just another notch on my bedpost, that's not true!"

Lucy shook her head. "Of course that's not what I thought! I just, well-you proposed, got her pregnant, went off to war, and she didn't see you again. Was it because you were scared?"

Damon shook his head. "I promised your mother way before I left that I would leave early and come back for her. She'd already lost your grandfather to a war. I didn't want her to lose me too. It was just bad luck that pulled us apart...and why I've been trying so hard to make it up to her ever since." He sighed. "But, she hasn't accepted my apologies, finding your father and your uncle more appealing instead."

"Hey," Lucy said, putting a hand on his cheek and moving his head gently so he was facing her. "It's _good _that Mom liked my father better than you. If she hadn't, I wouldn't be here right now. I know that's self-absorbed, but it's true! Would it be too much to ask for you to stop focusing on what you don't have and focus instead on what you do have?"

Damon swallowed. "And what do I have?"

Lucy undid her robe and threw it on the floor. "You have me," she said. And then she kissed him. He was resistant. "Just a minute," he said. "Why are we doing this?" He asked. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Lucy said. "And I want to do this because I _love_ you. It's not all about the sex. Apparently, you can blame my werewolf gene for that. I met my Uncle Jake today and he told me all about it."

"Oh, yes," Damon said. "Uncle Jake the Werewolf Encyclopedia. I remember him."

"He was surprised I didn't know a lot about it, but Mom doesn't mention it much," Lucy said. "He also said that it seems my werewolf gene has decided that I like you and thus I will drive off any other woman you try to bring home. So you best not do that anymore."

"Well, it's pretty much pointless now, isn't it?" Damon asked. He ran his fingers through her hair. "Say it again," he said.

"What?" Lucy asked.

"That thing you said earlier," Damon told her. "The reason why you want to have a relationship with me."

"Oh, you mean because I love you, not just because of the sex?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah," Damon nodded. "That. Do you mean that?"

"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "I have for as long as I can remember. You've always made me feel loved and warm and safe, more than anybody else." She smiled. "That probably seems stupid to you, but I have to say it."

"Well, I'm glad you did," Damon said, taking off his shirt.

Lucy watched him, wide-eyed. "Are you gonna take your pants off too?"

Damon shook his head and grinned. "I thought I'd let you do that," he said, grinning. "Unless of course you don't _want_ to."

"Oh, I want to," Lucy said. She unzipped him and got him out of his pants and then kissed him hard. He rolled over so that she was underneath him, kissing down her neck and all over her body before removing her underwear so that she was as naked as he was. Then they made love for awhile and after they were done, Lucy looked Damon in the eye and said, "I promise not to tell my parents about this."


	39. Big Boy Blue

"How much longer do you think you'll be able to get away with keeping that picture before Father knows that it's missing, Sam?"

Sam started badly when he heard the voice behind him, but still managed to keep a good grip on the picture. "I don't care if Dad knows it's missing or not. He probably does by now. He keeps it on his desk." Sam looked down at the photo of his mother sitting on the hood of a car and smiling at the camera cheekily. The photo was yellowed and had to have been more than twenty years old, but he could still see his mother in it, and how beautiful she was. Then, he looked up at Joshua. "Are you here for a reason? Most people's imaginary friends leave them by the time they get to be my age."

"Technically, you're still only six, no matter what the mirror says," Joshua told him. "And I'm here because I'm worried about you. If you need to talk about anything at all, I'll listen."

Sam sighed and put the picture back on his pillow, looking up at Joshua. "Look," he said. "I know you want to help me and all that stuff and I'm grateful for that because you're the only one that seems to care at all, so don't take this the wrong way, but I wish you weren't the one who cared. I wish it was someone else."

"I know," Joshua nodded, looking at the photo. "I know exactly who you wish to care about you. And she does, in her own way."

Sam scoffed. "Yeah, right. How long has it been since she's even come here? I bet she still thinks I'm six years old!" He looked angrily at Joshua. "You of all people should know how I feel. She abandoned you too. Didn't that ever make you feel angry?"

Joshua shook his head. "Not really. I spent my childhood thinking that she wasn't in my life because she died. Our grandfather wasn't really a fan of the truth and it's hard to get mad at someone for dying."

"What about after you found out she wasn't dead at all?" Sam asked. "Were you mad _then_?"

"I was too stunned to be mad," Joshua said quietly. "And I think she was as surprised by the sight of me as I was by the sight of her. And after we both got over our shock, we had a nice chat and then I brought my fiancee to meet her, and then, after her first marriage didn't work out, she moved in with me and my wife and helped us raise our children."

"Well, isn't that just jolly for you?" Sam said bitterly. "And just _how_ is that story of yours supposed to help me if you weren't angry at her even the tiniest bit?"

"Well, why are you mad at her?" Joshua asked him. "She's doing the best that she can."

"How?" Sam asked. "Where do I benefit? Her best must mean that everyone gets to see her except me and that is just not fair!"

"Well, sometimes life _isn't_ fair," Joshua told him. "You should consider yourself lucky. At least you have Father. Most children in your situation end up with no parents to care for them at all!"

"What do you mean 'most children in my situation'?" Sam asked. "What _is_ my situation?"

"You were an accident," Joshua said quietly. "Mother and Father were both having a bad day and they got drunk together while wallowing in their misery and ended up having an evening of passion that resulted in you."

The room was so silent after this pronouncement that a cough sounded like a thunderclap. "Well, that explains a hell of a lot," Sam said. "No _wonder_ Mom never comes to visit me if she never wanted me at all!"

"You aren't the only one," Joshua said. "She didn't exactly plan for me, either."

"You too?" Sam said. "Well, hey. What a coincidence. You and me both are Mom's unwanted bastard children."

"Well, actually-" Joshua began, and then stopped when he saw the hopeful look in Sam's eyes.

"What?" Sam asked. "You can tell me. Come on."

"It's nothing," Joshua said. "Don't judge Mother too harshly. She loves you in her own way, even if she can't show it to you every second. Can't you give her credit for that?"

"Well, I don't know, Josh," Sam said. "Really, I want to. I do. But I just don't know if I'm evolved enough yet."

"Well, I'm sorry for you," Joshua said. "Because by continuing to be this way, you'll only make yourself more miserable than you already are."

"Are you done?" Sam asked.

Joshua nodded. "I suppose, for now."

"Well then, just _go_!" Sam yelled. "I don't want to hear you talk anymore!"

* * *

><p>Selina came back from lunch with Caroline later that day to find Elijah holding Gregory and looking as if he were at the end of his rope. Gregory was sobbing so hard his face was red.<p>

"What's happened?" Selina asked Elijah. "Did something happen to him?"

"He just won't stop crying!" Elijah hollered. "And I don't know what to do!"

"Here," Selina said. "Give him to me."

Elijah handed him over and Selina stuck her finger in his mouth. "I thought so," she said knowingly. "He's teething. Here, hold on to him a minute." Elijah took him back and Selina went to the freezer and grabbed a long, frozen thing that said "Freezee Pop" on the side of the plastic. She rippped the top off and pushed it up so that red was poking out, then took Gregory back and put the popsicle in his mouth. He stopped crying and looked much more cheerful.

"What did you give him?" Elijah asked.

"Oh, calm down," Selina said. "It's just frozen fruit juice, that's all. This one is cherry flavored, but I have other flavors too. I thought it would be good to have them around when he started teething and the time has come."

"He's not going to be like this _all the time_ is he?" Elijah asked. "We aren't going to have a moment's peace!"

"Have a lttle sympathy for the kid, will you?" Selina asked him, running her hand down Gregory's back. "The poor little guy's gums are all swollen and sharp pointy teeth are pushing their way up through his soft, tender mouth. That has to hurt. You can't blame him for crying."

"Well if this will be going on for a long time," Elijah said, "the crying and the need for something cold to soothe his gums, I don't think we should keep relying on those popsicles as a way to soothe him."

"Oh, and why not?" Selina asked. "I told you they were made of frozen fruit juice. It's not like I'm just giving him junk food. I wouldn't do that."

"I know you mean well," Elijah told her. "But I think it would be better if we relied on his teething ring instead. The sugar in those popsicles alone will keep him up all night."

"Oh, it will not!" Selina said. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"May I see you in our room for a minute?" Elijah said through his teeth.

Selina rolled her eyes and went to put Gregory in his crib and then followed Elijah into their room. "If you want attention from me, this isn't the way to go about it," she said.

"I didn't bring you in here to try and seduce you," Elijah said seriously. "I think it would be best if he didn't have any of these popsicles of yours. They're poison and I don't want them in this house."

"Oh, shut up!" Selina said. "This is exactly how I handled Adrian and Lucy and even Roxie and Nicky didn't seem to mind."

"Well, I shouldn't have to remind you that I am not Niklaus and because of that, I do not do things the way he does."

"And how do _you_ do things?" Selina asked. "I can't _wait_ to hear."

"Gregory will have nothing sugary of any kind yet," Elijah said. "He's too young."

"I don't see why we need to be that strict," Selina said. "He seems to like the popsicles. And they don't have a lot of sugar. If you had one, I think you'd like it." She left the room and came back clutching one.

"I don't believe in putting things like that in my body," Elijah said, looking at the popsicle with distate. "It's what's best for Gregory, so I really think you should-"

At that moment, Selina stuck the popsicle in his mouth and said, "Let's get something straight: Where Gregory is concerned, I will compromise with you, but you will _not _get to make every decision concerning him by yourself. I gave birth to him, so I _think_ that entitles me to give input on how he's raised. If we get in a situation like this one, where I put a suggestion out there and you can't come up with a better one, I want to hear you say, 'You're right, Selina. I won't argue with you anymore. And not only are you right, you're also intelligent and witty, not to mention _incredibly_ sexy."

She finally let the popsicle go and Elijah took it out of his mouth, glaring at her. "So?" She asked. "I'm waiting."

He spanked her. "You _are_ intelligent, witty and incredibly sexy, but that doesn't mean you're right."

Selina growled. "I could just smack you, you know that, right?"

"You're cute when you're angry," he said, smirking at her and running a hand up her thigh.

Selina moved his hand. "You didn't bring me in here to seduce me and I didn't come in here to be seduced. If you want to deal with this in a more grown up manner, I will be more than willing to talk with you." She looked down at his jeans and giggled. "Your popsicle is melting and it's getting all over your pants."

Elijah looked down at the dark stain that was spreading just above the right knee of his jeans. "Oh, damn," he said. "I'm going to have to go change. I guess I can be glad that I wasn't wearing one of my suits._ That _would have been a catastrophe." As he walked toward the closet, Selina watched his bottom, which was snugly encased in his jeans. "I think it's not just _you_ who's glad you aren't wearing one of your suits," she thought to herself.

* * *

><p>"Have you paid much attention to Sam lately?" Joshua asked Damon, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a small but heavy paper weight.<p>

"What?" Damon looked up from throwing his papers out of all his desk drawers. "Did you say something?"

"I asked if you've been paying much attention to Sam lately," Joshua repeated. "Have you? Do you realize how morose he's become?"

"He's a teenager now," Damon said without looking up. "I'm sure it's just a phase and he'll be over it in a few years. Have you seen the picture of your mother that I used to have on my desk? It disappeared _days_ ago and I haven't been able to find it!"

"That's just what I mean!" Joshua said. "Sam is in distress and all you can think about is a picture of Mother that's missing. You should be ashamed of yourself. I hope you are. And as for the picture, Sam has it. He snuck down here and took it and now he keeps it under his pillow. It's the closest thing he has to Mother since she hasn't come and visited him for so long."

"Well, what would you like me to do?" Damon asked. "Go over to your mother's house and demand she come and visit Sam? I'm not exactly the most welcome person in that house, you know. Being the ex and all."

"If you don't go, I will," Joshua said. "One of us has to tell her."

Damon looked at Joshua's self-righteous expression and said, "Oh, fine. I'll go and do it. But I have no doubt it will end badly for me."

* * *

><p>When Selina heard the doorbell ring and went to answer it, she had to shift Gregory to her left hip in order to open the door. "Damon," she said. "Come in! What brings you here?"<p>

"Am I interrupting something?" Damon asked, eyeing Gregory a little uncomfortably.

"Oh, no," Selina said. "You're not. It's okay."

"Good," Damon said, striding into the house. "Because we have a bit of an emergency on our hands."

"What kind of emergency?" Selina asked. "Has something happened with Sam?" She went to the kitchen, put Gregory down in his baby seat and then grabbed another Freezee pop out of the freezer and began sucking on it.

"Yes," Damon nodded, when he could finally find his voice again. "But before I tell you, I have two favors I want to ask of you."

"What?" Selina asked.

"Damn it, will you stop sucking on that thing?" Damon snapped.

Sheepishly, Selina removed the popsicle from her mouth and stuck it back in the freezer. "I'm sorry, really. I'm not trying to drive you crazy. I just forgot." She paused. "What's the other favor?"

"Put on pants," Damon said. His eyes roamed down her legs, which seemed longer because she was wearing a very short skirt. "For god's sake, _please_ put on pants!"

"Well, all right," Selina said. "Watch Gregory for a second and I'll go change." She left him alone with Gregory until Elijah came in, clutching a popsicle of his own. "You too?" Damon asked. "Those seem to be popular around here all of a sudden."

Elijah pulled it out of his mouth for a second. "Don't tell Selina that you saw me with one of these," he said. "I told her they were garbage and I don't want her to think she outwitted me about something."

"Don't worry," Damon told him. "Your secret is safe with me."

"Thank you," Elijah said. "Where has Selina gone, by the way?"

"To change into pants," Damon said. "She told me her legs were cold." He shrugged.

Elijah nodded and picked up Gregory. "I'm going to take Gregory over to my mother's for awhile. You wouldn't mind telling Selina that, would you?"

Damon nodded. "Oh, sure."

Elijah nodded and headed out just as Selina came back into the kitchen and pulled a chair into the center of the room, sitting down on it. "So," she said, "what did you have to tell me about Sam?"

"Joshua tells me he's been behaving oddly lately," Damon said. "He took a picture of you that I had on the desk in my office and he's been hiding it under his pillow."

"Well, why wouldn't he tell you about that?" Selina asked. "It doesn't seem like that's anything too bad."

"Well, I still think you should come and see him anyway," Damon said. "It would do him some good."

Selina nodded. "Well, of course. Just let me tell Elijah that he'll need to watch Gregory for a bit-"

"Gregory's gonna be all right," Damon said to her. "Elijah took him to his mom's."

"Well, all right then," Selina said. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>"Sammy doesn't hate me, does he?" Selina asked. "I mean, he has every <em>right<em> to hate me, and I'm going to tell him that, but at present, does he hate me?"

Damon shook his head. "I don't think so. If he hated you, he wouldn't be clinging to the picture of you the way Linus clings to his blanket."

"Which picture?" Selina asked. "Not the one from 1864? I thought you got rid of it."

Damon nodded. "I did. It was the one I took of you right before I proposed to you the second time. The one where you're sitting on the car."

"Oh," Selina nodded. "Yeah, I remember that one."

As they drive up the drive to Damon's house, Selina said, "Would you mind leaving Sam and me alone while I make things up to him? It might be easier that way."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, at least not at first," Damon said. "You see, something's happened with Sam and he's a little different. And that difference can be jarring if you're not used to it."

"Oh, don't be silly," Selina said. "He's not my first son. I bet there's not a thing wrong with him that I haven't seen yet. Will you just leave the two of us alone for now? Please?"

"Fine," Damon said. "But when you see Sam, don't say I didn't warn you." He let Selina out of the car and then drove off without so much as a goodbye. Selina looked up at the house and took a deep breath. "Please let him still like me," she whispered to herself. "Please let him still like me."

She stepped inside the house and called out, "Sammy, I'm here to visit with you, but if you want me to leave, I understand completely."

Just then, a young man came running down the stairs and hugged her eagerly. "Oh, no," he said. "It's okay, you can stay. I can't believe you're here!"

"Oh, my god!" Selina said, pushing the young man away. "Who the hell are you? You're not Sammy! What the hell's happened to my kid? Did you do something to him? Tell me where he is, or I swear on my life I will beat the hell out of you."

"Relax, Mother," said a calming voice behind her. "That _is_ Sam. I promise."

Selina turned to face Joshua. "How did this happen? He's only supposed to be six years old! I know I've been negligent, but I don't think It's been bad enough that I let ten or so years slip by unnonticed.

"Lenora," Sam said. "She wanted some of Lucy's and my candy after trick or treat last Halloween and when Lucy and I wouldn't give it to her, she migicked us big and took it."

"So Lucy's older as well?" Selina asked. "Is she all right? Where is she?"

"She moved in to some artists' boardinghouse downtown," Sam said. "She really seems to like it."

Selina let out her breath. "Oh, I am so relieved. If you hadn't told me, I would have had images in my head of her being sick or injured or dead, or-" she paused and looked at Sam guiltily. "But never mind. We're not here to talk about Lucy. We're here to talk about you. Aside from the aging ten years, how have you been?"

"I can't complain," Sam said. "Things have been good enough for me. How about you?"

"I've been busy," Selina said. "What with the fact that Elijah and I had the baby and everything."

"Do I have a sister or a brother?" Sam asked.

"His name is Gregory," Selina said. "He's a very sweet boy, although he has a tendency to stare at me judgmentally when I make cookies and sneak some of the dough before I bake them." She grinned.

"Did I ever do anything like that?" Sam asked. "Or do you even remember?"

"Oh, I remember," Selina said. She put her arms around Sam. "You know, for the first six months of your life, it was you, your dad, Lucy and me all living together in the same house. That happened because I didn't want Lucy's father to find out that one of you wasn't his, but then your father, in his usual abrupt way, went and blabbed, so Klaus knew, and that's when I thought it would be better if I just brought you and Lucy back to live with me. I told your father he could have three days to say goodbye, but when the time ended and Lucy and I came back to get you, the house was empty and there was a note by the phone from your father that said, 'I know I promised I'd make it easy for you to get Sam, but last night, I decided against it. Sam is my son and I'm not just gonna give him up. I'm sorry'."

"So Dad sorta kidnapped me?" Sam asked.

"It would be harsh to phrase it that way," Selina said. "I know why he did it. We had to give up your brother and I guess that the thought of having to give up another child was just too much for him to bear, even though I _told_ him that he was allowed to come visit you."

"So you _did_ want me?" Sam asked, looking hopeful. "Even if I _was_ an accident?"

"Who told you you were an accident?" Selina said, looking angry.

"Joshua did," Sam said. "He said I was an accident, just like him."

Selina growled. "Joshua Damon Salvatore, you get yourself out here right now. I want to have a word with you!"

Joshua appeared, looking sheepish."I'm sorry, Mother. But someone had to tell Sam the truth."

"That is _not_ the truth!" Selina said. "Sam wasn't an accident and neither were you!"

"I always thought I was," Joshua said. "That's what Grandfather used to say, although that's not how he phrased it."

"Well, you weren't!" Selina said. "I figured that your father was probably going to die when he went off to war, so I wanted to have a piece of him to remember him by and that was you. I knew exactly what I was doing, and when Doctor Stensrund told me you were on the way, I was as happy as anything."

Joshua flushed a little. "Sorry, Sam," he said. "I guess I was wrong."

Selina looked at Sam. "You were my little something extra," she told him. "I mean, it's true that I didn't exactly sit down and say, "I want to have another child with Damon,' but its exactly what I thought my whole life and _couldn't_ say. Not being able to raise Joshua was one of my biggest regrets and I always thought that if your father and I had another one, I would be able to make up for everything that I missed out on the first time around."

"So you_ did_ want me?" Sam asked, looking hopeful.

Selina nodded. "Of course I did. And don't you ever think otherwise."

"Would it be a problem for me to come and meet my new little brother?" Sam asked. "I want to."

"Well, of course!" Selina said. "In fact, you should come and stay for a couple of weeks. Would you like that? It wouldn't be any trouble."

"Thanks," Sam said. "I would love to."

* * *

><p>As Elijah pushed his shopping cart through the fruit section of the grocery store a few days later, he heard a beep coming from his inside jacket pocket. He pulled out his phone and saw that there was a message on it from Selina. He sighed. She was <em>supposed<em> to be resting. She'd practically fallen face first into her cereal this morning. She'd been overworking herself, but she wouldn't tell him why. He opened the message, thinking that it was jus a note from her about something she wanted him to pick up. But when he saw what it was, his eyes widened and he quickly stuffed his phone back in his pocket. She'd sent him a picture of herself standing near the velvet floor length curtains in his office, wearing nothing but a coy smile and holding a feather duster in front of herself to cover up the lower front of her. He took a deep breath, warmth flushing his face and tried to forget the image. But just as he reached the melons, he was overcome by the urge to look at it again. This time though, he wasn't so quick to put it away and pushed his cart along with his eyes on it, not moving them until his cart hit someone else's and his phone flew out of his hand.  
>"Oh, I'm sorry!" He said, looking up.<br>"It's okay," Damon said. "I wasn't looking where I was going either. You know how it is when you get to doing stuff on your phone. It's so easy to get distracted. I must have dropped mine when we crashed."  
>"Me too," Elijah said. "Did you see where they went? It's very important I get mine right away."<br>"Why?" Damon asked slyly. "Are there love notes from Selina on there you don't want anyone else to see?"  
>"Well there's certainly <em>something<em> on there from Selina I don't want anyone else to see!" Elijah snapped. "That's why we have to find our phones now!"  
>"I got you," Damon said. "I feel exactly the same way."<br>When they found the phones, they realized they both looked exactly the same and neither were sure whose was whose.  
>"You know what?" Damon asked, "Why don't we just pick one and then switch if we're wrong? I mean, what else can we do?"<br>"All right," Elijah said. "But if you get mine, you have to _promise_ to give it back."  
>They shut their eyes and each grabbed a phone off the floor, opening them.<br>"Selina's sending you naked pictures?" Damon asked, eyeing the image on Elijah's phone enviously. "She never sent _me_ any naked pictures!"  
>"Give me that!" Elijah said, snatching the phone away. "Besides, I don't see what you've got to complain about. The girl I see here is quite comely, although do you really think it's wise to date someone so much younger than you?"<br>"You're the expert on that," Damon said shortly, taking the phone back. "You tell me."

"Oh, stop being bitter about Selina and think instead about the woman whose picture is on your phone," Elijah said. "She must like you, or she wouldn't do that."

"Oh, she does like me," Damon said. "She's a sweet girl, really. She doesn't like to be away from me very long. Does Selina feel that way about you?"

"Well, no," Elijah said. "We're both secure enough in our relationship that we can spend time without one another. It's healthy. Although there _is_ something that she's seemed intent on keeping from me the last week or so. Has she mentioned anything to you? Something that I might not like that's going to happen?"

"The only thing I can think of is that she told Sam he could come and stay for a couple of weeks," Damon said. "And she might have thought you'd be less than enthusiastic about Sam coming to stay, since he's not yours and all."

"I'm well aware of Sam and that situation and I'm all right with it," Elijah said.

"Well, good," Damon told him. "Then you won't be alarmed when Sam comes to visit in a bit."

"No," Elijah said. "I won't. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to pay for my things, then go home and ask Selina why she didn't think she could tell me about Sam."

"Good luck," Damon called after him. Then he got his phone out and texted Lucy: "Are you crazy sending me stuff like that picture? Your uncle Elijah saw it and you are DAMN lucky he had no idea it was you!"

* * *

><p>When Elijah got home, the first thing he did was check on Gregory, who was fine, happily chewing away on his teething ring, and then he went to look for Selina. But he didn't find her. <em>She<em> found _him_.

"So," she said, sneakily coming up behind him as he made his way out of Gregory's room and kissing his neck. "Did you get anything interesting on your phone while you were at the supermarket?"

"Well," Elijah said, "some naughty-minded woman sent me a naked picture of herself, but I don't know who could have done it."

"Well I might know," Selina said. "If you let me look."

"No!" Elijah said, clutching his phone to himself. "That's not necessary."

Selina giggled. "Would you relax? I was just teasing you. I know the picture you're talking about is the one of me."

"What would possess you to send me something like that while I was out in public?" Elijah asked. "Someone could have seen it!"

"No they wouldn't!" Selina said. "Not unless you're suddenly in the habit of handing your phone to other people, which I know you aren't. And you liked looking at it. I know you did. You're not as prudish as you pretend."

"Well, of course not," Elijah said. "I have needs and desires just like everyone else, but there is a time and a place for those desires to be expressed."

"And just what would that time and place be?" Selina asked. "Safely within the confines of a person's bedroom just before bedtime?"

Elijah nodded. "Exactly. Although based on what Damon told me about Sam when I saw him at the supermarket, we might not even be able to have privacy within our four walls soon."

"You know about Sam coming here?" Selina asked. "I know I should have told you, but when I invited him, Sam seemed so happy about it that I didn't want to risk you saying no."

"So you just decided not to tell me?" Elijah asked. "Selina, we can't do this. That's not how a relationship works. Now, I know about Sam, and I know how he came to exist and I'm all right with that. But you have to tell me when you invite people into our house. It's just a polite thing to do!"

"Well, all right," Selina said. "I apologize. I thought the picture would make up for not telling you, but since you obviously need to hear me say it too, I apologize for not telling you about Sam before now. You _are_ all right with his coming? He won't be here for too long, I promise. Just a week or two. And he wants to meet Gregory."

Elijah nodded. "Yes, I am all right with him coming. Just promise me we'll have some alone time while he's here? You won't forget about me, will you?"

"Of course not," Selina said, hugging him. "I could _never_ forget about _you_."

* * *

><p>The day that Sam was supposed to come, Selina was very eager. She was bouncing off the walls and having trouble sitting still. Even a game of Monopoly, which was usually very easy for Selina and Elijah to play, was very difficult because she was so hyperactive.<p>

Elijah rolled the dice and moved his car down the Monopoly board, landing on St. James place.

"Yay!" Selina cheered. "You owe me a ton of money. Fork it over."

"I don't!" Elijah said. "I'm not paying you for all three properties!"

"But you _have _to!" Selina said. "I own all the properties that are gold. That means you have to pay me for all of them."

"We'll just see about that," Elijah said. He went to one of the cupboards and got out a piece of red construction paper, putting it down on all the gold space properties Selina owned. "There," he said. "Now they've all burned down and I don't have to pay you for any of them."

"You can't just burn my properties down!" Selina said.

"Oh, yes I can," Elijah said. "My people used to do it all the time."

"Is that so?" Selina asked. "What did you do with the people in the houses once you burned them down?"

"Well," he got up and came to sit behind her. "The men we'd usually kill, and the women, if they were pretty like you, we would..." He leaned forward and kissed her, lowering her down onto the Monopoly board. She had a game piece digging into her back, but she didn't care. As she wiggled out of her panties, she said, "Wait a minute! What about there being a time and place for everything?"

Elijah paused and looked down at her, his eyes wide, his breathing heavy. "Are you saying you want to stop now? Because I can't. Not at this point."

"What I'm saying is, you know Sam comes today and we don't want him to come in here and find us," Selina said. "That would be incredibly embarrassing, wouldn't it?"

"Well that would only be true if he could just walk in here," Elijah said. "And you and I both know that he can't because we lock the door like civilized people."

"Well, I might have given him a key," Selina said. "So if you don't want to be a part of any really embarrassing situations, I suggest we pause for a moment and go and continue this in our bedroom."

"Fine," Elijah rolled his eyes. "You are lucky that I'm still dressed."

"Why do you think I mentioned it now, rather than later?" Selina asked.

He got off her and then they hurried to the bedroom, but not before Selina left Sam a note, telling him when he arrived that they were busy but would be done soon.

"Not that soon, I hope," Elijah said.

When they got to their bedroom, they quickly undressed each other and fell into bed, their hands going everywhere on each other. As he drove into her and Selina let out a shriek, the bedroom door burst open and they saw Sam staring at them, wide-eyed. "Oh," he said, blushing. "I'm sorry. I heard the screaming and I thought Mom was in trouble and...well, I'm sorry. You two take all the time you need. I'll be waiting for you in the living room."

"It's about time you got here!" Damon said when he opened the door that night and saw Lucy on the other side.

"Well, I'm sorry!" She snapped. "I've just been processing what you said about Uncle Elijah seeing the naked picture of me. Did he really see it?"

Damon nodded. "Yeah, he said you were 'quite comely'."

"Really?" Lucy said. "If he'd known that was me, he probably would have poked out his eyes." She paused. "Now that we have that sorted out, let's get to kissing!" She threw herself at him and kissed him deeply.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Damon said. "There's one more thing."

"What's that?" Lucy asked. "And do you have to tell me it now? Can't it wait?"

"Sam's visiting your mother and uncle this week," Damon said. "It means they know about his aging. And doubtlessly, he's told them about you by now. So we'll see what happens then, won't we?"

"Yeah," Lucy said, suddenly feeling cold. "I guess we will."


	40. I Hate Myself For Loving You

"I know it'll be bad news when Mom and Dad find out," Lucy said. "Maybe not Mom so much, but I know Dad will have a problem with us. However, we shouldn't worry about that until we have to." She paused. "Since Sam is gone, I could stay here with you if you want, instead of going back to Mimi's. Would you like that?"

Damon sighed. "Sure, I guess. Thanks."

Lucy sighed. "You're welcome. I'll go make up the sofa."

"Oh, don't be silly," Damon said. "You can come be in bed with me."

"With Mom and Dad possibly coming bursting through the doors any minute, do you think us sleeping together is a good idea?" Lucy asked.

"I thought we were only dealing with that when we had to," Damon said. "Cookie Monster, what's the matter? One minute you're sending me sexy pictures and the next you don't want to come near me. Have I done something?"

"Well, it's just that you seemed...less than enthusiastic when I offered to stay here, so I thought I'd overstepped my boundaries again," Lucy said. "I know I do that sometimes."

"Well, how did you want me to respond?" Damon asked.

"Well," Lucy blushed a little. "I wanted you to say 'to hell with your parents!' and then pick me up and carry me off to your bed. I know that sounds silly, but..."

"Okay, go out into the hallway and we'll do this again...the right way," Damon said.

"All right," Lucy said and went out into the hallway. Damon opened the door. "Well, hello," he said smoothly. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I figured since Sam was gone, I might stay here tonight and keep you company." Lucy said. "Would you like that?"

Damon cleared his throat. "Well, yes I would. But you do know that your mother knows about how old Sam is, and probably you too? Your parents could come barging in here any moment to find us!"

"Oh, dear!" Lucy said. "Does that matter?"

"Nope!" Damon said, picking her up from the doorway. "To hell with them! If this is gonna be one of our last nights together, let's make it a memorable one!"

"'One of our last nights together'?" Lucy asked. "That's a bit dramatic. Did you say the same thing to Mom before you left for the war?"

Damon froze and put Lucy down on the bed. "What's the matter?" She asked. Did I say something wrong?"

Damon sighed. "I think it would be best if we didn't talk about your mother when it's just you and me, all right?"

"Sure," Lucy nodded. "Okay. We won't talk about her."

"Well, I'm not saying we can't talk about her at _all_," Damon corrected her. "Just not when we're about to, you know."

"Have sex?" Lucy asked. "I can say it if you can't. And if you can't really say it, should we really be doing it?"

Damon grinned. "We've already done it."

Lucy flushed. "I know, but-"

"And it's what you came over here for, right?"

"Maybe," Lucy said. "Do you_ want _that to be the reason why I came over here? It's all right to admit it if you do."

"Do you usually talk this much when you're nervous?" Damon asked.

"I'm not nervous!" Lucy said. She stood up and pulled off her dress. "See? If I was nervous, would I have been able to do that?"

He looked at her her almost pityingly. "Get dressed, Cookie Monster," he said. "I'll go make some popcorn and we'll watch a movie."

"Well, that's kind of anticlimactic after all that 'Let's make our last night together a memorable one' talk, isn't it?" Lucy asked, running after him.

He turned. "Let's just see where things go, shall we?"

Lucy rolled her eyes and they went into the kitchen together to make popcorn. After it got done, Lucy took a piece of popcorn out of the bowl. "Can you catch this in your mouth if I throw it at you?" Lucy asked.

"I've never actually tried," Damon said. "But I could give it a shot." She threw it at him and it missed, falling to the floor, instead.

"See?" Damon told her. "I knew I was going to be bad at this."

"Well, I might have started too far away," Lucy said. "Let me get closer." She walked over to him so that their chests were touching and then put his arm around her waist. "Open your mouth," she commanded. He opened it and she threw the popcorn in. "Well, there you go," she said. "You caught it that time."

"Well, think how close you were to me," Damon said. "It was impossible for you to miss!"

Lucy shrugged. "That doesn't matter. You have to start somewhere." She took the bowl of popcorn into the living room and sat it down on the sofa. "So what movie are we going to watch?" Lucy asked. "Not something gory or full of swear words. I don't like that. How about something classic? Something with a lot of action that's romantic at the same time?"

Damon took Lucy's hand and led her into the bedroom, pulling open one of the drawers of his dresser. It had a false bottom and under that was a dvd still wrapped in plastic. "How about this?" He asked, holding it up to her. "Will it do?"

Lucy took it and looked it over. "_Casablanca_? I've never seen that. What's it about?"

"Well, basically," Damon said, "This rough-hewn but charming guy played by Humphrey Bogart helps save his former lover Ilsa from the Nazis by sending her away to America from Casablanca, along with her husband who loves her, even though she, Ilsa, still loves him and not her husband."

"Wow," Lucy said. "That Ilsa seems like something else if you ask me."

"I don't know if you'll want to judge her before you see her," Damon said. "You might find she has some good in her once you watch it. I never liked her though. I always thought she and Victor deserved each other."

"So you've seen this?" Lucy asked. "It doesn't look like you've unwrapped it."

"I've seen it lots of times," Damon said "Your mother and I went when it first came out. She bought me this particular dvd, I just never liked it enough to open it."

"Well, if you don't like it, then why are we watching it now?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know," Damon said. "I just thought you might like it. Your mother does."

"All right," Lucy nodded. "I'll give it a shot."

Damon put the dvd in the player and they started the movie. Lucy watched it with discontent on her face and by the middle of it, she was asleep with her head on Damon's lap. He looked down at her, her eyes closed and her breathing even, moving her head up to his shoulder. Then he turned off the television and put her to bed, grabbing a blanket and a pillow to sleep on the floor beside her.

* * *

><p>Lucy woke up the next morning and looked at the space on the bed beside her. It was empty. She pushed the blankets aside and saw that she was still fully clothed. She heard a bump and a groan and leaned over the side of the bed to look down and saw Damon.<p>

"What are you doing on the floor?" Lucy asked. "Did you fall out of bed last night or something?"

Damon sat up and shook his head. "I didn't sleep in that bed last night. I tucked you in and set myself up here."

"Ah," Lucy said. "Because you were overcome with reluctance to get in bed with me again?"

Damon stood up and looked at her. "Well, let's just put it this way," he said. "If you and I aren't having sex, the fact that you roll around, kick, and steal the bedcovers is way more noticible than it is when you and I are both so tired that we just pass out. And last night, since you fell asleep before the end of the movie, I wanted to make sure you had all the mattress space you needed."

"Excuses, excuses," Lucy said.

"Get dressed," Damon told her. "You have school. When you're done, come out and have some breakfast before you go."

"Well fine," Lucy said. Damon pulled on a t-shirt along with his boxers and left the room, leaving Lucy to dress by herself. When she arrived at the breakfast table, she discovered that Damon had already set out waffles for each of them and there was a glass of milk by her place and something in a glass she didn't recognize by his.

"What are you drinking?" She asked.

"Whisky," Damon said.

"Can I have some?" Lucy asked again.

Damon shook his head. "No, you can't. You're too young. You drink your milk. That's what I set it out for."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Did you treat Mom this way too?" She asked.

"No," Damon shook his head. "Actually, I started her on whisky when she was about fourteen. One day, her mother dragged her along to a party of a friend of hers and your mom had a really bad time, so she came over to my house and told me about it and, fool I was back then, I told her that the best way to forget your troubles is by drinking them away."

"And she believed you?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah," Damon nodded. "She's been an alcoholic on and off ever since. Hopefully your uncle's gotten her off it for good."

"He probably has," Lucy said. "He doesn't approve of people who drink too much." She winced at the milk in her glass and gulped it down, slamming it down on the table and picked up her waffle as she made her way out the door.

"One more thing," Damon said, putting a restraining hand on Lucy's shoulder. "If you see Sam at school, would you check up on him for me? Make sure he's okay?"

Lucy shrugged. "Sure, I guess. I don't know if he'll wait up for me, but I'll try."

Damon nodded. "Good girl. Have a good day at school."

"Math test today," Lucy said, screwing up her face. "I hate math."

"I thought you were a genius or something," Damon said.

"Oh, I am," Lucy said. "I can _do_ the math without a problem. But just because I can do something well, that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"That's true," Damon said.

Lucy looked up at the clock on the wall. "I better be getting on my way," she said. "I don't want to be late."

"Bye," Damon called after her.

"Bye," Lucy said over her shoulder as she shut the door behind her.

* * *

><p>Just before her math test, Sam met up with Lucy at her locker. "I need a favor," he said.<p>

"What is it?" Lucy asked her brother. "I have a math test soon and I don't want to be late for it."

"Yeah," Sam said. "I bet you just can't wait to take your seat in the front row." He smirked.

Lucy caught his eyes. "You know," she said, "if you want someone to do you a favor, the last thing you should do is antagonize them," she said. "Especially when the favors are somewhat immoral, as yours tend to be."

"They are not!" Sam protested. "They're no worse than any regular person would ask. "

"So what do you want?" Lucy asked, free hand on her hip.

"If I paid you, would you write an essay for me?" Sam asked. "It's for a class I'm not doing very good in, so I need a good grade."

"What class would that be?" Lucy asked.

"History," Sam said. "And the essay is about the Civil War."

"How can you not feel confident about writing something like that?" Lucy asked. "Your parents lived through it, for crying out loud! They can give you first hand accounts and everything! Without even trying hard, you should have the best grade in the class! Or you would, if you weren't so lazy."

"Do you want the ten bucks or not?" Sam asked through his teeth.

"As much as I would love to take money from you," Lucy said, "To do it for the reason that you ask is the most ridiculous thing I can imagine, so I don't want your money. Undoubtedly, though, you should have no trouble finding someone else either dumb enough or so hard up for money that they do what you want without question." She smirked. "Good luck with that. And when your plan fails miserably, let that be a lesson to you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a math test to get to."

She hurried off, leaving Sam speechless in the hallway.

* * *

><p>Luckily for Sam, the morning the paper was due, he didn't have to worry about turning it in. He woke up with a cough and a headache and his throat was so sore he could barely even croak for Selina come and check on him.<p>

"Well, you look horrible," she said, standing in the doorway. She looked at his flushed face and put a hand on his forehead and cheek after he gave her a scathing look and she came further inside. "And you have a temperature. Looks like you'll have to stay home from school today."

"Damn," Sam croaked. "That's a real bummer."

"Was something due?" Selina asked him, frowning at his language.

"Nothing big," he said. "I'm sure if my teachers know that I'm sick, they won't mind waiting for me to hand it in."

"I guess that's all we can do," Selina said. "Unless you want me to give it to Lucy and have her hand it in for you. In fact, that might be better."

Sam's eyes widened and he moaned, but Selina darted out of the room anyway, and came back with the phone.

"Damon," she was saying into it, "Has Lucy left for school yet? She hasn't? Well, could you tell her to stop by here on her way? Sam caught the flu or something and he's got an essay due today. All right. We'll be waiting for her."

She gave Sam a look after she hung up. "So where's your essay?"

Sam pointed weakly. "Over on the table."

"You _did_ write this yourself, didn't you?" Selina asked. "You didn't pay anyone to write it for you?"

Sam coughed and shook his head. "I'm gonna _die_," he moaned. "Wouldn't you feel bad if I died and the last conversation we had was you chiding me about whether I finished an essay or not? I _did_ do it myself, though. That's why it's gonna suck."

"Well, at least you made an effort," Selina said.

Lucy came by soon after to grab the essay and as she read it on the way out, she realized how terrible it was. She ripped it up, let it blow away, and decided that she would compel their teacher to give Sam more time to write a second draft instead. He could do better and he deserved the opportunity. It wasn't his fault he got sick. He was only human after all.

She arrived at school and met Jason, who led her to class. "Good luck," he told her. "I just know the teacher is gonna love your essay."

"I have no doubt about that," she said. She sat down at her desk and when class started, everyone handed in their essays and they commenced with the lesson of the day. After class was over and every one else had left, Lucy went to the teacher and locked eyes with him. "Sam is sick," she said. "You will give him more time to finish his essay. About a week, after he gets better, of course. And I will tell you when that is."

The teacher nodded and Lucy left the room feeling the tiniest bit bad about what she'd just done. But, she reminded herself, even Uncle Elijah will compel people in desperate circumstances, and this was _definitely_ a desperate circumstance.

* * *

><p>That night, Selina had no trouble getting Sam to fall asleep, but Gregory was another story. He sat up, looking at her with wide brown eyes, giggling and babbling incoherently. "Okay," she said for what seemed like the fiftieth time, "Time to go to bed, all right, Gregory?"<p>

He drooled and then rolled out from under his blankets as she tried to tuck him in.

She sighed, her sweaty hair hanging in her face. She felt like she was going to pass out right over the crib.

"Ba-boo!" He said. "Ba-boo!"

"What does that even mean?" Selina cried out. "You're not hungry, you don't need to be changed, what else would you need?" She grabbed hold of her hair and was about to give it a strong tug when a small container of bubbles caught her eye. "Wait a minute," she said, slowly getting up. She walked over to the bubbles and carried them to the crib. "Is this what you mean?" She asked. "You want _bubbles_?" She swished the wand around a bit and blew on it, sending bubbles floating around the room. As Gregory watched them, she was able to get him settled into bed and watch as he finally closed his eyes and went to sleep.

She looked down at him and sighed, running a hand over his cheek. Then, she heard a soft knock on the door. "Is everything all right in there?" Elijah whispered after cracking the door open a bit.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Everything's fine, finally." He came in and she took his hand, letting him lead her out of the room. When they were standing outside, she just sort of collapsed against him, her eyes closing.

"My poor darling," he said, picking her up and carrying her to bed. "Gregory really wore you out, didn't he?"

Selina snuggled under the covers as he tucked her in. "Uh-huh," she breathed. "So sleepy...so sleepy..."

Elijah ran his fingers through her hair, then crawled into bed beside her and turned on the light.

* * *

><p>The following week found Selina carrying tea to Sam, who was still in the throes of the flu. She was walking past Elijah's door when he poked his head out. "I need to speak to you about something," he said, his voice low and urgent.<p>

"I'm bringing Sam his tea," she said. "Can't it wait just a few seconds?"

Elijah growled in the back of his throat. "Oh, all right. But hurry. I won't wait all day."

She grinned in spite of herself. "Well, if it's so important, of course I won't make you wait." She winked and went to give Sam his tea, and then when she was on her way back down the hall, Elijah grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside, kissing her deeply.

"I thought you had to talk to me about something," Selina said when he pulled away. He put his finger over his lips. "Now is not the time for talking. Take off your clothes."

"What?" Selina asked. "In the middle of the day? Right here in the office? How daring of you!" She giggled and stripped obediently while he watched her and didn't move his eyes away from her body. She felt herself flushing.

"You gonna undress too?" She asked when she could finally get a word out.

"I can't seem to move," Elijah said. "You'll have to help me."

She slowly crossed the room and pulled off his t-shirt and unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. Then, he pulled her to him and she looked over his shoulder, seeing that he'd already folded out the sofa bed. He must have planned this, but she wouldn't ruin the moment by pointing that out.

They fell back onto the mattress and rolled around. Elijah enjoyed her squeaks of pleasure as usual, but did his best to stem any shrieking, since he didn't want Sam in here to interrupt them again, because even if he was sick, he could still find a way. Elijah ran his hands over her body, rubbing her and then silencing her moans with a kiss. She ran her lips down his neck and over his abs, then they went lower and lower until he finally achieved the release he'd been waiting a week for.

"You get what you need?" Selina asked when they'd rolled off each other and were breathing hard.

"What makes you think I did this for me?" Elijah asked. "I did it because you've been overworking yourself and I wanted to give you a break."

Selina ran her fingers through his hair. "Oh, bullshit," she said. "You don't have to lie to me. I know I haven't exactly been available to you since Sam got here even though I promised I would be, and I'm sorry. If you ever feel left out, you can just tell me, though."

"I could," Elijah said thoughtfully. "But isn't this a much better way to get your attention?" He finished, a wicked gleam in his eye. He tried to kiss her and she turned her face away. "No, seriously," she said. "Have you been feeling left out this week?"

"Yes," he said. "Maybe a little."

She ran a hand over his arm. "Well, I don't blame you," she said. "I got a sick kid and a baby to take care of, and you're the picture of health, so naturally, it puts you third in line, although that is definitely not the way I'd have it if it were up to me." She groaned. "My god. All I need is four more men to depend on me, and I'd be Snow Freaking White. I've already got Drooley, Sneezy and Doc. Who else is left? I don't even know why I'm asking. I don't want to take care of any more people!"

"I know," Elijah said. "You should have people taking care of _you._ I'll try and get on Gregory's good side again, so you can have a break from him. I don't know what I did to make him stop liking me, though."

"It's because you won't blow bubbles for him," Selina said. "He likes bubbles for some reason."

"_That's _the whole problem?" Elijah asked.

"Pretty much," Selina nodded. "You can start feeling silly any time now."

"Well, I just thought that since he's my son as well as yours, he'd have more sophisticated interests, that's all," Elijah said. "Bubbles seemed so simplistic."

"He's a _baby_," Selina said. "He won't start liking sophisticated stuff for like, _years._ Let him be a kid first."

Elijah took her in his arms. "Well, all right," he said, kissing her as they fell back onto the mattress again. "If you say so."

* * *

><p>As soon as he felt better, Lucy came to pick up Sam for school. "So, how do you like living with Mom?" Lucy asked him. "Is it everything you thought it would be?"<p>

"She's very persistent, isn't she?" Sam asked. "I mean, I love her but she nags about _everything_! It's always 'eat something,' 'do your homework,' 'don't spend so much time in the shower'." Dad never nags about stuff like that."

"That's because you're a guy," Lucy said. "If you were me, it would be something like 'drink your milk', 'wake up in time for school', 'stop stealing the covers'."

"What was that last one?" Sam asked.

"Nothing," Lucy said quickly. "The point is, that usually happens. You have an image in your head of what something will be like, in your case, living with Mom, and the reality isn't always as good as what you imagine."

"I'm sure it was good once," Sam said.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"Did you know that there was a point in our lives where you and me lived with Dad and Mom?" Sam asked her.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I knew that. It was because Mom didn't want _my_ dad to know that you weren't his kid, so she hid out with _your_ dad and us until one day, your dad went up to my dad and let the cat out of the bag about you being his son, so Mom realized it would be pointless to hide and she took me back home. She meant to take you too, but made the mistake of telling your dad that he could have time to say goodbye to you, and that's when your dad took you and made a run for it."

"So Dad _kidnapped_ me?" Sam asked. "And I was _this close_ to living with Mom?"

"Well, technically, I guess he did kidnap you," Lucy said. "But it's not like he gave you a horrible life. You turned out all right, mostly."

"Thanks," Sam said sarcastically. "I just can't believe he would do that to me! What kind of a sick person kidnaps their own kid?"

"Don't be too hard on him," Lucy said. "Remember, he lost his first kid. Maybe he didn't want to have to go through the same thing with you, which is basically what would have happened, as my father would have only reluctantly let him into the house to see you if he let him in at all."

Sam nodded. "But it's _my_ life!" He said. "I'm sorry he lost Joshua and that it was hard, but that doesn't give him the right to mess with me that way. Think of how I might have turned out if I'd have been allowed to grow up with Mom."

Lucy smirked. "You'd be wearing sweater vests and a pocket protector, probably," she said. "And that's not you! Just stop dwelling on what can't be changed and keep moving forward. You'll be happier that way."

"Maybe," Sam said. "And maybe not."

* * *

><p>"What's the matter with you?" Lucy asked as Damon fell in the front door. "What's happened? Are you sick?"<p>

"No," Damon said shakily. "I'm not sick. I've just had my heart and soul ripped out of me, thank you." He looked at her with unfocused, bloodshot eyes. "You know, you're pretty."

He walked unsteadily toward her and tried to kiss her, but she held him at arms' length when she smelled the alcohol on his breath. "You're drunk," she said. "We won't do anything tonight except get you cleaned up and to bed. Things will get better in the morning."

Damon blinked as she pulled him along after her and filled up the tub. "You'll have to undo my buttons," he said. "I can't."

She sighed. "Why did you do this to yourself?" She asked as she undid his buttons and threw his shirt in the hamper by the sink. Then she got off his pants and underwear and watched as he climbed into the tub. "Are you gonna be all right?" She asked him."

He shook his head. "I coud fall and hit my head," he said. "Or drown. You'll have to come in with me."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Even when you're drunk, you're incorrigible."

He grinned. "_Especially _when I'm drunk!"

She stripped and got in the bath with him, slowly washing him off with a loofah. "How does that feel?" Lucy asked. "Am I hurting you?"

"No," Damon said, slurring his words and leaning on her shoulder. "That's good." When she got down far enough, he started giggling. "That tickles!" He said, splashing her.

"Don't do that!" Lucy said. "That's not what we're in here for! After we've cleaned you up, you're going to bed!"

"Will you come with me?" Damon asked.

Lucy shook her head. "No, but if you cooperate with me, I'll send you a nice dream. How's that?"

"Fine," Damon said, his eyes going in and out of focus. There was silence in the tub for a moment before he said, "Sam doesn't love me anymore."

"What?" Lucy asked.

"So I was waiting around at home and he comes by and he says that I ruined his life, he hates me, and he doesn't want to see me again," Damon said. "He took a bunch of stuff, put it in his car and drove off."

"And you were so upset that you went and got drunk?" Lucy asked. "That's not the way to handle things."

"Stop yelling at me!" Damon said. "I just want to be alone!"

She helped him out of the tub and dried him off, then got him into pajamas and tucked him in. "Good night," she said. "Try to get some sleep, all right? Things will be okay, you'll see."

She left and Damon slept fitfully until he was eased into a dream hospital room, which was mysteriously smoky, and as he sat up, a dark figure in a nurse's uniform advanced toward him. "How are you feeling?" Lucy asked seductively. "Anything I can do you for?"

"I don't feel good," he said, grinning. She felt all over him. "You _do _seem ill," she said, slowly removing her outfit. "Maybe you need a little TLC." She climbed into bed with him and began kissing him furiously, all over his body. Then she got up on her knees and a blood bag suddenly appeared in her hand. She smeared some of the blood from the bag over her chest and leaned over him. "Hungry?" She asked, her voice husky. He leaned forward and began licking the blood off her bare chest as she ran her hand down him, but then, his hand hit a button on the bed control causing the bed to fold in half, and that's when Damon abruptly woke up from the dream, and had to work really hard to fall asleep again.

* * *

><p>Lucy woke him up the next morning. "How are you feeling?" She asked.<p>

He winced. "Hungover. Very, _very_ hungover."

She came closer to him. "I figured that. So I brought you coffee, aspirin, and some toast for your breakfast." She eyed his pathetic figure. "Is this why you told me I'm not allowed to drink?"

Damon scoffed as he down the aspirin. "Hell, no. In five years, you can drink all you want. But it won't end well for you. Hangovers suck and they happen every time."

"Not _every_ time," Lucy said. "Just when you drink too much."

"Well, for me, that's all the time," Damon replied.

"Eat your toast," she commanded. "You need food in you. I'm not leaving for school until you do." She stood in front of him, her arms crossed, her expression severe.

"Oh, all right," he said and ate his toast. "Now you scurry on to school. We wouldn't want you to be late."

Lucy nodded. "You take care of yourself while I'm gone," she said, kissing his forehead. "And no more drinking, either. At least not for awhile."

"Yes, Mother," Damon said. He watched her go and then, with surprise, realized that he liked her taking care of him and wished he hadn't sent her away at all. That she really was more like Selina than he'd realized.

_Selina..._

He sank back down on his pillow, closed his eyes, and spent the day dreaming of Lucy's mother.

And those dreams stuck with him. So much so that when he and Lucy were in bed that night, he did something incredibly stupid. As they made love, he muttered Selina's name instead of Lucy's.

Lucy froze. "What did you just say?" She asked quietly. "You said my mother's name, didn't you?"

"I meant to say yours," Damon said quickly. "It was a mistake!" She narrowed her eyes and shook her head, getting off him and dressing. Then, she narrowed her eyes at him from the foot of the bed.

"You know," she said, "I try and I try, but even _I_ have limits and I'm not gonna be with a guy who can't commit to me because he's still stuck on my mother! I thought I'd be able to get past that, but you've just been humoring me to get me into bed, haven't you? Well, you should feel real special, because now, not only do you not have Mom, you don't have me either!"

She turned to march out the door, leaving Damon alone in the silence.

* * *

><p>The tiny community of Ashford hadn't had a murder since 1833 when Corky Robinson shot Bill Briley over a dispute about a cow. Their low crime rate was something they were extremely proud of. At least until recently. That was when some new folks had moved to town, two men and two women, and with them had come the killings. Drownings, stabbings and one strangulation now had all the residents on edge. They feared that they would be the killer's next victims, so no one left their houses anymore, especially not Marge and Harry Thatcher. They lived next door to the house where all the evil originated. The perp was a young woman about eighteen with long brown hair and strange, glowing dark blue eyes. She'd told the Thatchers that her name was Roxanne, but it couldn't be. That was the name of a normal person, not a villain.<p>

"I wish she hadn't told us her name," Jim Robinson said over a beer at the tavern. "It makes killing her that much harder."

"But we have to," The sheriff said. "She's a menace."

"Are you sure you're not blaming her because she's different?" a voice asked. "Maybe none of these murders are her fault?"

Just then, the door to the bar opened and a girl with creepy dark eyes, long dark hair and pale skin approached the sheriff. "Tell me something," she said. "How many murders have you had here in the last month or so? Many more than ordinary?"

"Well, considering 'Ordinary' is zero, I'd say we _have_ had more than ordinary," the sheriff nodded. "Why would you care?"

"My name is Mary Anne," she said. "And I believe I can catch the person responsible for all the killing and make this a peaceful town once again," she said. "Will you let me?"

The sheriff burst out laughing. "A slip of a thing like you? You've got to be joking with me."

She grabbed him by his collar. "Let me take care of this for you. _Please_."

"Okay," he said nervously. "Okay."

Just then, the young man who always spoke up for Roxanne went sprinting out of the bar and ran all the way down the street without pausing for a breath. "Roxie!" He said when he burst into the house. "You have to go! Mary Anne is here and she promised the sheriff she'd kill you!"

"Why?" Roxie asked. "I haven't done anything!"

"There have been murders all over town!" Vince said. "You haven't been conspicuous at all."

"I don't know who's been killing everyone," Roxie said. "But it sure as hell wasn't me."

"Let's go in any case," Vince said. "Please."

"Oh, all right." Roxie got up off the sofa, and went to her bedroom. Vince followed a few minutes later, but when he got to the room, Roxie was gone.

* * *

><p>Roxie opened her eyes and found herself staring at two wide-eyed people. "Wow, Lenora," Lucy said. "She's here. You did it!"<p>

"I told you I could!" Lenora said.

"How am I here?" Roxie asked, looking at Lucy with distaste. "What do you want?"

"I have a confession to make and you're the only person I think I can tell, but you have to _promise_ not to tell Dad," Lucy said. "Because it will really piss him off if he finds out."

"Oooooh!" Roxie said, perking up. "What is it?"

"I'm not a virgin anymore," Lucy said after sending Lenora out of the room.

"Seriously?" Roxie said. "That's so cute. It's like hearing that a horny little baby took her first steps." Roxie hugged her. "I'm so proud of you! So who was it with? Was he hot? It wasn't a guy from the chess club or something, was it?"

"No," Lucy said. "It was Damon Salvatore. But it's a total waste because he's still stuck on Mom and I feel totally used, so I don't know what I'm going to do now."

"Oh, you poor kid," Roxie said, sitting down next to her.

"Remember, you promised you wouldn't tell Dad," Lucy said.

"Oh, I remember," Roxie said. "I promise I won't tell Dad."

But behind her back, her fingers were crossed.


	41. A Cold Heart

"I have to go," Lucy said after a moment of silence. "I don't think I can be here anymore."

"I'll come too!" Lenora said. "You can't leave me! Daddy would be mad at you."

Roxie watched Lucy go and grinned to herself. "I should definitely tell Dad about this," she said. "It's what a good sister would do." Just then, her phone rang. "Roxie, where the hell are you?" Vince barked. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Roxie nodded. "My niece just magicked me back home, that's all," she said.

Vince let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I thought the mob had come for you."

"No," Roxie said. "I'm fine. Are you and Tony and Charlie gonna come back?"

"Might as well," Vince said. "If you aren't here, what's the point for_ us _to be?"

"I'll see you in a bit," Roxie said. "I have to stop off at Dad's first. And I might be there awhile."

She hung up with Vince and called Klaus. "Hi, Daddy," she said. "Where are you? We need to talk."

"I'm at home," he said. "But I have guests, so be nice when you get here."

"Oh, all right." Roxie took the phone away from her ear and found a car, which she took to Klaus', parking in the street and striding inside, freezing when she saw who was sitting with her father. "_You,_" she breathed at Caroline. "What are _you_doing here?"

"She lives here now, remember?" Klaus asked. "You knew that."

"You pushed me down the stairs," Caroline added.

Roxie nodded. "Oh, yeah!" Then she looked at the other person at the table. "Alfred, why are _you_here?"

"Just having a chat with my relative," Alfred said, smiling at Caroline. "Strange how my mother and family worked so hard to protect ourselves from vampires and there are two in the family line."

"Speaking of family," Roxie said to Klaus, "I found out something very interesting from Lucy."

"Really?" Klaus asked. "I wasn't aware you two talked. How is second grade going for her?"

Roxie grinned. "She's not in second grade any more. They moved her up. _Really_moved her up. To high school."

"High school?" Klaus' eyes widened. "I know she's intelligent, but it can't be wise to send such a small girl into an environment like a high school."

"Well, I don't exactly know how it happened, but Lucy's sixteen now. She's not so little. And you want to know what else she isn't?" Roxie asked, grinning maliciously. "She's not a virgin anymore, either."

Klaus' eyes widened. "What?"

"I think you heard me," Roxie said. "So do you really want me to repeat it?"

Klaus shook his head. "Oh, no. Please don't. So who did it to her? Did she tell you? I want to know who I am going to be killing."

"Damon Salvatore," Roxie said. "She seemed upset about it."

"Well then I'm definitely going to kill him," Klaus said. "I can't just let him do that to her and get away with it."

"You still want to be on good terms with her?" Roxie asked.

"Well, yes," Klaus said.

"Killing him, as appealing as the idea would sound, might not be the best option at this point then," Roxie said. "After Lucy told me what happened, she made me swear not to tell you because she knew that it would make you angry if you knew. She must genuinely have feelings for him."

"Does she?" Klaus asked. "I would have thought she'd have better sense than to go after one of her mother's hand-me-downs. That's a very sensitive and surprising observation from you, Roxanne."

"And here's another one," Roxie added. "She might just have learned her lesson by now. She told me what she and Damon did, and then said it was a 'total waste because he's still stuck on Mom'."

Klaus scoffed. "I don't understand that. Your mother has her charm, but she's nothing to spend your life dwelling over when there are so many other options about."

"You mean like Lucy?" Caroline asked.

"Who asked _you_ to join this conversation?" Roxie snapped at her.

Caroline shook her head. "Nobody asked me. But I just want to know what you think you'll accomplish by going after Damon. I mean, she must like him if she did what she says she did, and it clearly hurt her that he's not giving her his full attention, but is hurting him really the answer to all this?"

"Maybe not," Klaus said. "But it would make _me_ feel better, certainly."

"And what does it have to do with you?" Caroline asked him. "It's Lucy's issue not yours, and she's older now, so you should let her handle it on her own."

"Lucy is my daughter, Caroline. A part of _me,"_ Klaus said. "By hurting her, he hurt me, and I never let anyone get away with hurting me. Ask Roxanne what happened after I found out about her and_ her _boyfriend."

"He had his goons beat Vince up pretty bad," Roxie confirmed. "Vince came to school the next day on crutches. And Dad _likes_ Vince."

"You like him and you still beat him up?" Caroline asked.

"It's because I like him that I let him live," Klaus said. "About Mr. Salvatore, I can't say I feel the same."

"Well, I suppose you'll do what you think is best," Caroline sighed. "But when Lucy hates your guts for doing it and is refusing to speak to you, don't come crying to me. Because all you'll hear is 'I told you so'."

* * *

><p>Lucy stormed into Anna and Stefan's house after dropping off Lenora. "Your brother is the biggest idiot in the world!" She fumed.<p>

"What did he do?" Anna asked.

"I think I know," Stefan said.

"He's still stuck on Mom," Lucy said, ignoring Stefan. "I do all I can to be nice to him and he's still stuck on Mom!"

"I think 'nice' is an understatement of what you were," Stefan said. "But it's good to see you've learned your lesson and are moving on."

"And you won't tell Dad?" Lucy asked Stefan.

Stefan shook his head. "I don't see why that's necessary, since you're breaking things off anyway. It would only cause trouble to mention it to him at this point."

"Oh, thank you!" Lucy said, hugging him. "I'm gonna go back to Mimi's now. If your brother wants to tell me he's sorry, tell him not to bother."

* * *

><p>Selina was reading Gregory a book in his room when he heard the doorbell ring. "Let's go see who that is," she told him, putting the book down and carrying him to the front door just the the doorbell rang again. Selina looked out the side window to see who it was and groaned. "My god," she asked herself. "<em>Why?<em>" She went to open the door and saw Damon standing on the other side.

"Hi," he said to her. "May I come in?"

"That depends," she said. "What did you come for?"

"I just want to talk," he said. "There's something on my mind that needs to be said. "Something I haven't completely been honest about with you. It won't take long, I swear."

"All right," she said. "It better not. Elijah's not home right now, but he could be any minute."

"I'll be in and out," Damon said. "And I'm touched that you're concerned for my safety."

"Well, I just don't want you getting any ideas," Selina told him. "How many more times are we going to have the 'I've moved on and you need to as well,' talk?"

"And that's exactly what I have to talk to you about," Damon said. "I _have_ moved on."

"Good!" Selina said, sitting down with Gregory on the sofa. "Good for you. Who is she? Is she nice?"

"You know her," Damon said. "And I'm not gonna put it off any longer because that wouldn't do either of us any good." He took a breath. "The girl I'm with is Lucy."

The room was silent for a moment as Selina digested this piece of information. Then, she looked at Damon. "When you say 'Lucy,' you don't mean...?"

"I do," Damon said, his eyes averted. "Your daughter Lucy. She's sixteen now, just like Sam, and very pretty."

Another minute or so of silence and then Selina put Gregory down on the floor, growled, and punched Damon in the eye with all her might, knocking him to the ground. "What are you _thinking?_" Selina yelled. "She's a sixteen year old girl and you-you-"

Damon slowly pulled himself up from the floor, one hand on his eye. "I fucked up, I know. It's just that when she ran off, I was so scared and then she came back and I was so relieved that I didn't want let her go, and one thing led to another, and-I know it's a bad excuse, and you can hit me all you want, but that won't change what happened. I do love Lucy, though. I swear."

"How can you say you love her when you know in your heart of hearts you're not even over _me_ yet?" Selina asked, looking at Damon with dismay. "It's not right to string her along like that, Damon. And you know it. If you love Lucy as much as you claim, don't make her another notch on your bedpost. Let her go until you feel you can make a commitment."

"Well that's kind of a moot point now," Damon said. "I accidentally called out your name when she and I were, you know. And that was the straw that broke the camel's back. She's done with me for now." He moved his hand from his eye and said, "You're taking this a lot better than I thought you would."

Selina sat down. "Yeah, well, I can't be too critical, can I? It's not like I've never been where she's been. Felt what she's feeling right now."

"When did you feel like that?" Damon asked. "Was it after I left for the war? You _knew_ that I might not come back from it, despite my best intentions."

Selina shook her head. "It didn't have anything to do with the war," she said. "It had to do with Katherine. When I found out you were with her, it _did_ hurt me. A lot. Why couldn't you have had the same commitment to me then that you have to me now?"

"But I _did_!" Damon said. "That's why she had to compel me to think that you cheated on me. Because her charms alone couldn't make me forget about you. And it made her irritated, so that's when she started using her powers on me."

Selina nodded. "Well, that's something, I suppose."

"Would you like to know something else?" Damon asked.

"Sure," Selina said. "Why not?"

"The reason why I'm having such a hard time letting you go, it's not exactly because I still love you or whatever. I'm not stupid. I can see you've moved on. It's that I carry a lot of guilt around for leaving you the first time and as weird as it sounds, part of me feels like I haven't made it up to you for that yet. That's one of the reasons why I'm having trouble letting you go."

"What's the other?" Selina asked.

"When I was growing up, very few people actually loved me," Damon said. "Do you realize that? There was my mother, and she died. And Stefan, and you. Even though you were just a little girl, you made me feel like I was special and smart and could do anything. And no one else, up until Lucy, made me feel the same way."

"And now that Lucy's old enough to give you that kind of love, you're starting to feel comfortable with the idea of pulling away from me," Selina finished. "I get it."

"Well, I wouldn't say she's exactly old enough," Damon said. "I still find myself thinking of her as a child sometimes."  
>"Well, techinically, that's what she is," Selina told him. "Even if the two of you <em>have<em> been in bed with each other."

Damon sighed. "I think that's going to have to stop, at least for now."

Selina put a hand on his shoulder. "I know that it'll be hard, but you're doing the right thing. You'll see that, eventually." She held out her arms. "Come here."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Damon asked. "Do you really think you should trust me?"

"Are you thinking of pulling anything?" Selina asked.

"Well, no," Damon said, giving Gregory the eye. "How could I, when I know we're being watched?"

Selina turned. "It's scary how much Gregory looks like Elijah sometimes, isn't it? Now, do you want a hug, or not?"

"Well, all right," Damon said. "But only a short one."

* * *

><p>"Someone here to see you, Lucy," Mimi said, coming into her room.<p>

Lucy gripped her paint brush tighter and began flicking red paint onto her canvas. "If it's who I think it is, I don't want to talk to him. Would you just tell him to go away?"

"I tried that," Mimi remarked. "But he wouldn't go. He's very persistent."

Lucy rolled her eyes and put her brush down. "Fine. Where is he?"

Mimi patted her on the shoulder and led her to the kitchen, where Damon was waiting. "Lucy!" he said. He tried to hug her, but she wouldn't let him. "Oh, go hug Mom!" she barked.

"Can we talk about that?" Damon asked.

"No!" Lucy shouted. "We can't!"

"If it makes you feel any better, when I told your mom about you and me, she punched me," Damon said. "See?"

Lucy finally looked at him and saw that his right eye was turning purple. "Well, good," she said. "I hope it hurt. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a painting to work on." She strode off, leaving Mimi and Damon to stare at each other awkwardly.

"The two of you have had lots of ups and downs, haven't you?" She asked.

Damon sighed. "This one was my fault. I really screwed up."

"And you want to make it up to her?" Mimi asked.

Damon nodded. "Yeah."

"Then leave it alone for awhile," Mimi said. "If you wanted, I could tell you when it's safe to try again."

"Why would you do that for me?" Damon asked.

Mimi shrugged. "You made a mistake. Everyone does that."

Damon nodded. "All right. Thank you." And then got up to leave the house.

* * *

><p>When Elijah got home, he found the living room empty except for a checkered tablecloth on the floor and two places set out. "Selina?" He called. "Where are you? What is all this in the living room?"<p>

"Coming!" She called, and emerged from the kitchen with a bottle of white wine. "Would you get a couple of glasses?" She asked.

"Oh, of course," he said and when he came back with the glasses, she filled them up.

"What is all this?" he asked again.

"I thought we could do with a picnic," she said. "And since we can't go outside without taking Gregory with us, the best solution is to do it inside."

"That does seem the most sensible solution," Elijah agreed. "Where's all the food?"

Selina stood up. "In the kitchen," she said. "I was just letting it rest for a bit. I made up more than one course."

"You did?" Elijah asked. "Really? What are we starting with?"

"I thought either fruit salad or cucumber soup," Selina said.

"Well, I'll try a little bit of both," he told her.

She nodded. "All right. Being a bit adventurous, I see." She got up and headed to the kitchen. Elijah followed. "Could I help you carry anything?" He asked.

"Sure," she said, handing him the bowl with the soup in it. "By the way, speaking of eating, Gregory was being a bit fussy today after I fed him and I thought that since his teeth were coming in, it might be time to start him on blood. I cut my finger and gave some to him and he handled it just fine, but I wanted to know what you thought before I took it any further."

"I think it would be wise to start slow," Elijah said. "Maybe give him yours first, and if he handles it well, like you say he has, then we'll gradually introduce mine and then blood bags. But we shouldn't feel the need to rush yet, don't you think?"

"Well, not to the point where we're forcing him to drink. Not that we'd do that anyway, but you know what I mean," Selina said. She held up the fruit bowl. "How much do you want?"

"Well, what did you make for the main course?" Elijah asked.

"I found a recipe for chicken Marsala that looked good," Selina said. "And it only took half an hour."

"Is _that_ why you called me to ask how long it would take me to get back?" He asked.

"Well, yeah," Selina nodded. "Why did you think I did it?"

"I don't know," he said. "Problems with Gregory and you needed my assistance?"

She told him to put his wine down and then she hugged him. "That is so sweet that you'd drop whatever you were doing to come down here and help me if I was having a problem with Gregory," she said. "But he really is one of the most even-tempered kids I've ever known. Except for around bedtime. Then he likes to mess with me. Not unlike you." She grinned, and spooned a little of the soup and a little of the salad onto his plate.

He grinned. "Well, that is your own fault," he said. "You're too pretty to resist." He paused. You really do have a way with food," he commented. "And I mean that in a good way."

She grinned. "Well, thank you. It was just one of those things where, when I was growing up, Mama took note of every single bit of food I put in my mouth and told me that I couldn't eat as much as I wanted because it was considered unladylike, so when I was free of her and out seeing the world, one of the first things I did was learn how to cook things I really liked, and then I ate as much of them as I wanted. It really was very liberating for me."

"When I was alive, we couldn't choose not to eat," Elijah said. "It was a pure matter of survival. If we didn't eat, then we would become weak and vulnerable, so we ate whatever we were able to catch and we ate it with gusto." He watched her eat, grinning at how she did it in a very ladylike manner, but wasn't ashamed with the amount she was consuming, even though she knew he was watching her.

"What?" She asked when she realized he had his eyes on her. "Haven't you ever seen a woman eat before?"

"Not recently," Elijah said. "It seems to have fallen out of fashion for women to actually eat normally when men are watching. Have you noticed that?"

"I have," Selina nodded. "And if you ask me, women today are just stupid. I could never imagine being so stuck on how I looked that I stopped eating because of it." She shuddered. "That's Mama's thinking, not mine."

They sat in silence, finishing the salads, and then Selina brought out the chicken. As they cut into their chicken, Elijah said, "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

Selina shook her head. "Nothing happened. It was pretty quiet, I'd say."

"Good," Elijah nodded. "I like it best when things are calm and quiet with nothing troublesome on the horizon."

Just then, there was an insistent knock on the door. "Who could that be?" Elijah asked. He looked at Selina, who was starting to get up. "No, you stay here," he said. "I'll go get it."

"Well, all right," she said. "If you insist."

Elijah went to the door and opened it to find Klaus and Roxie on the other side. "Hello," he said. "If the two of you wouldn't mind waiting with whatever it is that you came to tell me until Selina and I have finished our lunch, I would be most appreciative."

"I don't think it would be wise to wait that long, Elijah," Klaus said, elbowing his way into the house with Roxie following. "I have something urgent to tell you. It's about Lucy."

"What about Lucy?" Elijah asked. "Is she hurt? Is she in trouble? What?"

"She's been deflowered," Roxie said bluntly. "Damon Salvatore did it, but he's still kind of stuck on Mom, so Lucy's a tad upset."

Elijah watched them for a moment, the muscle in his cheek twitching. "Are you serious?" He asked Klaus. "When did you find this out?"

"Only today," Klaus said. "Who knows how long it's been going on."

"She's just a little girl!" Elijah said. "How could he do that?" Elijah stormed into the living room and frowned at Selina. "You should be ashamed of yourself!" He said.

"For what?" Selina asked. "What have I done?"

"You sent Lucy into Damon Salvatore's den of iniquity and now he's-he's-oh, I'm so mad I can barely even say it!"

"Now he's ruined her!" Klaus raged. "Selina, did you know about this?"

"Yes," Selina nodded. "But I only found out about it earlier today. Damon came by and he told me."

"He came by today and told you about this, yet you didn't see fit to mention it to me?" Elijah asked. "Selina, when I ask you if anything happened while I was gone, _that_ is the sort of thing you should mention to me!"

"No, it's not!" Selina said. "Because I knew that if I did, you would get all in a snit like you're in right now, and that's not necessary. He told me Lucy's let him go for now, so that should be that. And it's not like when I found out, I didn't give him a punch in the eye for good measure."

"So you've had your chance," Klaus said. "And now it's our turn. Elijah, would you like to come with me?"

Elijah nodded. "Of course, brother. Lead the way." They marched out the door and Selina looked sourly at Roxie. "I might have known you started all this," she said.

"You mean, you actually _want_ Lucy to be with Damon?" Roxie asked. "That surprises me, Mother."

"Why?" Selina asked. "It's not like _I'm_ with him anymore. And he really does like Lucy and Lucy likes him and he's not related to her in any way, so if they wait a couple of years, I don't see what the problem is. It's like with you and Vince. You started being with him when you were the same age Lucy is now and he's good for you, and I think, in spite of how flippant you act about relationships, you've never been with anyone other than Vince, have you?"

"Well, what's the point?" Roxie asked. "I can tell without much effort that everyone else would suck."

"And you love him," Selina said. "Don't pretend you don't."

"Aren't you gonna go after Dad and Uncle Elijah?" Roxie asked, quickly changing the subject.

"What's the point?" Selina asked. "It's best when they're this angry to just let them do what they feel they need to do. Damon will heal and will have learned a good lesson. The only reason I would have stopped them was that I made flan and I didn't want it to go to waste, but with them gone, I suppose that means more for you and me."

* * *

><p>"What's going on?" Jason said when he opened his front door and saw Lucy on the other side. "You sounded pretty worked up on the phone."<p>

"I've just had a bad day," Lucy said. "A really, _really_ bad day."

"I'm sorry," Jason told her as he led her to the sofa. "Would you like to tell me what happened, or is that best kept private?"

Lucy sighed. "No, I can tell you. I slept with this guy and now I feel used. That's the long and the short of it. He told me he loved me and everything, and then the other night when we were doing it, he called out his ex-girlfriend's name instead of mine."

Jason sucked in his breath. "Oh, that's _rough._ But there are worse things that could happen to a person, trust me."

"Oh, yeah?" Lucy asked. "Like what?"

"Well, I'm going to tell you a big secret about myself and you have to promise you won't tell anyone. Hell, my family would be pissed off if they knew I was telling _you._"

"Well, what is it?" Lucy asked.

"You probably won't believe me, and it will probably make you laugh, but I swear it's true," Jason said. He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. "I'm a werewolf."

Lucy's eyes widened as he pulled away. "You're a _what_?"

"I'm a werewolf," Jason repeated. "Well, not yet exactly. Next week, when the full moon comes up. Then it will be official."

"But in order for that to happen, don't you have to kill someone?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah," Jason said quietly. "My stepfather was drunk and beating up on my mom. I came in and when I saw her all bruised and bleeding, I got so mad, I just began beating up on him until he died. And then my mom looked up at me, burst into tears, ran into the bathroom and didn't come out. When I went in to check on her, I found that she'd drowned herself in the sink. There was water all over the bathroom and everything."

"Oh, Jason, I'm so sorry," Lucy said, putting her arms around him. His problems really made her problems with Damon seem trivial and stupid.

"How do you know about it?" Jason asked. "How did you know that you have to kill someone in order to change?"

"Because I'm like you," she said. "I've got the gene as well. From both my parents. My brother and sister are both active, and so are my mom and dad, but I'm not."

"Do you ever plan to be?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "No, I don't think so. It's just not me." She paused. "Are you...scared to change?"

"A little," he said. "I hear it hurts. A lot."

"I've heard that too," Lucy said. "Do you want me to come be with you next week when it happens? Because I will come and be with you if you don't want to be alone."

"I don't," Jason said. "I don't want to be one of those crazy psycho killer werewolves, you know? I have to find out before next week if there's any way I can go through my transition without killing people."

"Well, you're in luck," Lucy said. "I have this uncle who is a veritable _encyclopedia_ of werewolf knowledge. I could take you to meet him and he'd tell you everything you need to know. Would you like that?"

"Yeah," Jason nodded. "I would. Thank you, Lucy."

* * *

><p>Damon looked up as the front door of his house burst off its hinges. "Here you are!" Elijah said. "So what do you have to say for yourself?"<p>

"About what?" Damon asked.

But before Elijah could say more, Klaus picked Damon up by his collar and threw him against the wall. "You know," he said, "When I was alive, we used to have special punishments for men like you. And castration was only the beginning."

"We found out about you and Lucy," Elijah said. "I hope you're ashamed of what you've done."

Klaus put his free hand on around Damon's throat and began choking him. Damon tried to nod, but couldn't move much. "I think after I choke you, I'll disembowel you," he said conversationally. "Or maybe I could do what they did to sacrifices in South America and crack open your ribs and pull out your heart while it's still beating, hmmm? It would be quite painful."

Damon groaned, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. Then Klaus suddenly let him go and flung him at Elijah. "Say what you have to say," he said. "There won't be much of him left for you to talk to after I get through with him. But don't take too long. I don't want to be kept waiting."

Damon found himself facing Elijah's cold gaze. Elijah began to pace around him. "Tell me," he said, "why what happened between you and Lucy happened. Why was she hurt?"

Damon looked up at him nervously and didn't say a word. Elijah slapped him so hard that Damon thought his head would go flying off, but it didn't. "Answer me when I speak to you!" Elijah barked. "Why did you hurt Lucy?"

"I didn't mean to!" Damon finally got out. "It was an accident! She and I were together and I said Selina's name instead of hers. That's what happened."

"You're unbelievable," Elijah said quietly. "It's bad enough that you take Lucy's virtue when she's so young, but to do it under false pretenses while you still harbor feelings for her mother? That's just despicable. I ought to kill you right here and now!"

"Oh, don't do that," said a voice. Elijah looked up and saw a young woman with short blonde hair standing just inside the front door. "He might have said the wrong thing, but that doesn't mean he deserves to die for it."

"Well, thank you!" Damon got out. He looked at Elijah. "See? This whole thing just didn't come out of nowhere. She and I have a connection and-"

"Oh, shut up!" Lucy yelled at him. "Don't you _dare_ say all that crap now! Just because I said they couldn't kill you doesn't mean they aren't allowed to bat you around a little for good measure."

"_Lucy_!" Damon said, feeling shocked.

"Grow up," Lucy said. "It's not like it will kill you. You'll heal, eventually."

Damon looked into Lucy's cold eyes and found no light or forgiveness in them. She was serious.

"I'm going now," Lucy said quietly. "I only came because Mom called and told me Dad and Uncle Elijah were thinking of killing you. She thought I could stop them, and I have." She looked at Elijah and Klaus, who came back into the room. "Have I stopped you from killing him?"

"_You're_ Lucy?" Klaus and Elijah said at the same time.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm Lucy. She smirked at Klaus. "Are you going to go poke your eyes out now, Daddy?" She asked.

"Eventually, I just might," he said.

Lucy gave Damon one last dismissive look and then, as she made her way out the door of Damon's house, she said over her shoulder, "Remember, you two: you can do anything you feel you need to except kill him. Killing is much too good for him after what he did."


	42. A Bad Case of Loving You

Lucy stormed into Roxie's house and slapped her hard across the face. "What is your _problem_?" She snapped. "You just can't leave things well enough alone, can you?"

Roxie looked up, her hand on her reddening cheek. "Why did you just hit me?" She asked.

"Why do you think?" Lucy asked, breathing hard. "Because I'm pissed off and it's your fault! You told me you were gonna keep what happened between Damon and me quiet, but you didn't! And now, you know what I just did? I let Dad and Uncle Elijah beat the crap out of Damon and I didn't do a thing to stop them!"

"And that's my fault...how?" Roxie asked.

"Well, who else would have told them?" Lucy asked. "It sure as hell wasn't me!"

"Okay, I _might _have told Dad," Roxie said. "But really, I'm doing you a favor!"

"A wha-a favor?" Lucy managed to spit out. "How so?"

"This thing with Damon, you're not old enough for it yet," Roxie said. "Now he's just an older guy that has you spellbound and you're willing to follow him without question even though let's face it, he doesn't_ really _care about you as much as you'd like. He only pays attention to you because Mom is slowly going out of reach. If you're going to be with him, you have to grow up first."

Lucy looked at her in surprise. "That's kind of perceptive," she said. "How do you know that?"

"It happened to me once," Roxie told her. "I was the age you're supposed to be, Dad was dreaming of taking over the world, and once day he strolls into Enid's looking for people to make into hybrids. He made a few and was gonna turn Vince as well, but I wouldn't let him, and after that, I decided that I had to stay away from him."

"From Dad?" Lucy said in amazement. "But you were six years _old_! How could you make a choice like that? And more importantly, why would Mom allow it?"

"I made the choice because Vince was my friend and I didn't want to see him be hurt," Roxie said. "And as for Mom, if you haven't figured it out by now, Mom really doesn't like me, so I think any choice to send me away was a no-brainer for her." Roxie scoffed.

"Oh, I'm sure that's an exaggeration," Lucy said. "I bet Mom likes you. In her own way."

Just then, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Roxie said. She went and opened the door to let Klaus in. "Is your sister here?" Klaus asked.

"Nice to see you too, Daddy," Roxie said. "And yes, she is."

Roxie led him to Lucy and he surveyed his younger daughter with narrowed eyes. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I'm angry with you right now," he said.

"With me?" Lucy asked. "What did _I_ do?"

"I think he means you and Damon," Roxie said in a stage whisper.

"That's exactly why," Klaus said. "You can't forget that in spite of the spell, you're only six years old. Not responsible enough to be living on your own. Therefore, you have three choices: You can either live with me, Roxie, or Adrian."

"What about Mom and Uncle Elijah?" Lucy asked.

Klaus shook his head. "If you think I'm going to let you go live with the woman who deliberately got you into this mess, you're sorely mistaken. So who will it be? Me, Adrian or Roxanne?"

Before Lucy could respond, Roxie said quickly, "I'll do it, Daddy. I'll take good care of her."

* * *

><p>Klaus came back home and found Caroline waiting expectantly by the front door. "So where's Lucy?" She asked. "I thought you said you were gonna bring Lucy back."<p>

"Well, do you see Lucy?" Klaus asked.

"No," Caroline said. "I don't. So could it be you actually listened to me when I told you to let Lucy handle her problems on her own?"

Klaus scoffed. "Of course not, Caroline. Elijah and I went to Damon's house and throttled him within an inch of his life, and then I told Lucy she had to live under the supervision of me or her brother or sister."

"You did_ not_!" Caroline said. "That is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard! Why would you _do_that?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Klaus asked. "By sneaking around with Damon behind my back, Lucy has proven she's not mature enough to live on her own yet."

"So who's she living with?" Caroline asked flatly. "Adrian, or Roxie?"

"Roxanne said she'd take her in," Klaus said.

"And how is that better than the situation Lucy was in before?" Caroline asked. "In fact, now things will probably be worse! Do you even know what Roxie is up to anymore?"

"You just need to relax, Caroline," Klaus said. "You're not family. This is none of your business!"

"How am I not family?" Caroline asked. "I was married to Lucy's mother's cousin, for god's sake! Yeah, it's a little distant, but it still counts, so I am going to march over to Roxie's and tell Lucy to come live with us."

"Take your hand off the doorhandle, Caroline," he said. "You aren't going to leave here."

"Oh, yes I am!" Caroline said. "What will you do to stop me?"

He looked at her resentfully for a moment, then grabbed her free hand, pulled her away from the door, and kissed her hard.  
>Caroline pushed him away and slapped him. Then they stood in silence, staring at each other and breathing hard. Then she pulled him to her and kissed him again. She pushed off his jacked and he pulled off her shirt. She began walking him backwards from the door until they fell onto the sofa, still kissing each other furiously. He pushed her against the cushion, his hand going up her thigh and paused.<p>

"What's the matter?" Caroline asked. "Why are you stopping?"

"I can't do this here," he said. He picked her up, carried her to his room and put her on his bed.

"Now are we good?" Caroline asked.

He nodded. "Yes, we're good." He continued to kiss her and soon, he was only wearing his boxers and a tie and she was naked. He leaned down and began kissing down her neck and stomach. She moaned and said, "Keep going."

He did and soon they were rolling around the bed, knocking a lamp off the bedside table, and then finally, he drove into her and she let out a scream that brought pounding footsteps to the door, along with a knock. "Is everything okay in there?" Jake called.

"Yeah," Caroline called dazedly. "Everything's fine."

* * *

><p>"Caroline?" Selina said in surprise when she opened the front door and saw her friend on the other side. "What brings you here? Are you all right?"<p>

"Yeah," Caroline said, striding in. "I'm fine. I just have something to tell you, and you might hate me, but I feel that you have the right to know."

"What is it?" Selina asked. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Caroline shook her head. "It's just that-" She flushed a deep scarlet.

"Spit it out!" Selina ordered. "Whatever it is, it can't be that bad!"

"Klaus and I had sex!" Caroline burst out. Then she gasped and put a hand to her mouth.

"You and Nicky did _what_?" Selina asked. "Say that again."

"Please don't make me," Caroline said. "It was hard enough to say it once."

"Did you really say that you and Nicky had sex?" Selina asked. Her eyes were shining and her grin was wide. "Is that good? Should I be happy for you?"

"You mean you aren't mad at me?" Caroline asked in surprise.

"Why would I be?" Selina asked. "Nicky and I aren't together anymore. He can be with whomever he wants, and if that person is you, I'm okay with it. I have my own life, Caroline. You don't have to worry about me."

Caroline let out a breath. "Good! Because I was going to tell you that we didn't exactly plan on it, but he didn't want me messing with his plans for Lucy and he had the _gall_ to tell me that I wasn't allowed any say on what happened to her because I technically wasn't family, and then I said I was gonna leave and go find Lucy anyway, and when he tried to pull my hand off the doorknob, well..."

"It's _okay_," Selina said. "In fact, I should thank you. That's one less guy for me to worry about. Now if only I could get a girlfriend, or at least a sex buddy for Damon, everything would be perfect."

"Damon already _had_ a sex buddy," Caroline said. "That's where all the trouble started."

Selina nodded ruefully. "Yep, that's true. And more than just trouble for Lucy. It's not like I came out of this unscathed either."

"What did you do?" Caroline asked.

"It's not what I did," Selina said. "It's what I _didn't_ do. Elijah's mad at me for not telling him about Damon and Lucy as soon as I found out, but I found out around the same time he did, so it's not like I was keeping anything from him!"

"Are you banished to the sofa?" Caroline asked.

"No," Selina said. "Probably not. But I almost wish I was. That would make things easier."

"Compared to what?" Caroline asked.

Selina sighed. "I have a feeling that even though Elijah and I will be in the same bed, he won't want to talk to me or touch me or anything. Just face away from me. That's hardest."

"Just give him time to cool down and then talk to him," Caroline said. "I bet you'll be able to make him see the truth."

Just then, they heard a cry. "Who's that?" Caroline asked.

"Gregory," Selina said. "Want to meet him?"

"Is Gregory a person?" Caroline asked.

Selina nodded. "Elijah's and my son," she said. "He's a sweet kid." She led Caroline up to Gregory's room and found him in his crib. "What are you doing in here?" She asked, picking him up. "I thought you were with your daddy."

Gregory just gave her a look and then studied Caroline over her shoulder.

"He's got an intense look, doesn't he?" Caroline said.

Selina nodded. "Makes it hard for me to try and be sneaky with cookie dough and sweets, let me tell you." She put him down on the floor on his stomach and got on her knees in front of him.

He watched her for a moment and then she put her hands over her eyes and took them away again. Instead of looking excited or intrigued, he just looked underwhelmed. Selina tried again. Same look.

"He doesn't _do_ peek-a-boo, does he?" Caroline asked.

"No," Selina shook her head. "And I've tried lots of times, believe me I have. But every time, he just looks at me like I'm crazy or something. Oh, well." She went and got the bubbles and blew them. That got his attention. He reached up and popped one and it made him start. His lip quivered and he started to cry.

"It's okay," Selina said, picking him up. "The bubble went away, but there are more, see?" She wiped his eyes and asked Caroline to blow some more bubbles.

"Bok!" He said brightly.

"I can never remember if that means 'block' or 'book'," Selina said. She tried book first and he didn't take to it, so she grabbed a set of clear plastic blocks with colored letters and numbers on them and spread them out all over the floor. Gregory put his hand on the letter 'g', rolling it around on the floor.

"He likes that one," Selina said. "Much more than the others. Maybe it's 'cause he already knows what his name starts with."

"Could be," Caroline said. "That could very well be." They spent the rest of the afternoon going over letter blocks with Gregory until Caroline looked out the window and saw that it was almost dark. "I should probably get going," she said. "But I had a good time today."

"Me too," Selina said. "I hope we can do it again."

"And about tonight," Caroline said to her, "everything will be all right, I promise."

"Thanks," Selina said. "I'll do my best to get through it."

She did, but it was difficult, as was the night after that. The third night, Selina decided she had had enough and got out of bed at two in the morning to go sleep somewhere else, but as she tried to stealthily sneak out of the room, she felt a hand on her waist in the dark.

"Where are you going?" Elijah asked.

"There are lots of places I could be going," Selina said. "Like the bathroom. If that's the case, delaying me is not a smart idea."

"_Are_ you going to the bathroom?" Elijah asked.

Selina turned on the light and shook her head. "No. I was going to sleep in Gregory's room since it's no good sleeping with you."

"And whose fault is that?" Elijah asked. "Who started this whole mess?"

"I may have started it, but you're the one who's making it into much more than it needs to be," Selina said huffily. "Damon hurt Lucy. She got mad. You found out. You got mad. You got to beat Damon up. That should be the end of it. I don't see why we need to drag it on anymore."

"I'm not mad because of Damon," he said. "Well, I am, but that's only part of it. I'm mad because you didn't tell me once you found out about it and I had to hear it from Niklaus and Roxanne. What did you think you would gain by keeping it from me?"

"I didn't think I would gain anything," Selina told him. "I found out about it the same day you did. That's why you didn't hear about it before."

"If you would have found out before then, would you have told me?" Elijah asked.

"Well, maybe," Selina said, not meeting his eyes. "Or not."

"See?" Elijah said. "This is why I'm mad at you! Because you'd keep something this important from me!" He turned away from her and went back toward the bed. "Maybe it's best if you _do_ sleep in Gregory's room for the rest of the night."

"I wouldn't tell you because I don't like it when you're grumpy like this," Selina said. "That's something to avoid at all costs, and if I can handle a situation without making you angry, then I will! You should _thank_ me for that!"

Elijah turned. "Thank you? For what? _Lying_ to me? Selina, you and I are married now, which means that we don't keep things from each other, even if they're unpleasant. I understand why you want to stop me from being unhappy, but it's impossible to _never_ be unhappy. Sometimes, you _will_ have to tell me things that will make me unhappy, and I'll have to do the same for you, but then we will work through them together and they'll be taken care of. You shouldn't have to handle things like this by yourself. I raised Lucy just as much as you did, and by virtue of that, I was involved in her life. I have a right to know if she's in trouble or hurt, or-"

"Would it make you feel better if I reminded you that Nicky was as clueless about Lucy's situation as you were?" Selina asked meekly. "So it's not like I thought Nicky was more deserving of the knowledge than you were because he's her biological father. I realized you both have the same fatherly feelings toward her, and that neither of you would have a sane reaction to the news about Damon. Doesn't that count for something?"

Elijah looked at her big blue eyes and sighed. "I suppose," he said.

She held out her arms hopefully. "Hug?"

He pretended to think about it, then sighed. "Oh, all right," he said, grinning. "I suppose I could manage that."

"Yay!" She said and practically threw herself into his arms. They got back into bed, this time facing one another. He reached over and pushed a piece of hair out of her eyes and she kissed his hand. "I don't like it when we fight," she said. "But I like it afterward." She leaned forward and kissed him. He kissed her back and soon they were rolling around under the covers and by the time they resurfaced, the sun was up and they were both panting hard and in need of a shower.

* * *

><p>"I don't see what good it will do you," Stefan said to Damon several weeks later as he watched his brother pen another note to Lucy that he knew would go unanswered. "You've written around twenty of those and she hasn't responded to a single one! Just leave it alone and find some way to distract yourself."<p>

"Like how, Stefan?" Damon asked. "Like how?"

"I don't know," Stefan said. "But may I say, anything else would be better than this. It's making you look desperate and pathetic."

"Is not," Damon said as his pen seemed to run out of ink. He growled and began pushing it back and forth against the paper. "Damn you, stupid pen! Why don't you write?"

"You need to get out of the house!" Anna said to Damon as she snatched his pen away. "And I'm not just saying that because Stefan and I haven't gotten a moment's peace since you walked through our door."

"Every time I try to find something to distract myself, it fails!" Damon complained. He turned on the radio and Rick Springfield's "Jesse's Girl" filled the room. "See?" He snapped. "I told you!"

"I don't see what the problem is," Anna said. "Sure it's kind of a lame song, but it's also catchy."

"Think about how easily I could turn Jesse into Jason!" Damon said. "It's like Rick Springfield is speaking to_ me_!"

Anna snatched the pad of paper away from him, leaving a long black trail of ink because he'd finally gotten the pen to work. "Hey!" Damon said. "I was using that!"

"We _know_," Anna said. "Good god, do we know."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Hopefully, it's a distraction," Anna opened the door and a young man wearing a floppy hat trimmed with lace and fake flowers and an apron fell through the front door. "Adam?" Anna said. "Is that you?"

He looked up and nodded. "Help me!" He breathed. "Please, just help me!"

Stefan looked him over. "With your fashion sense? Of course! And not a moment too soon, it looks like."

"I didn't choose to dress this way!" Adam stood up. "It was all Lenora's doing!"

Stefan tried not to laugh. "Lenora? You let yourself be bossed around by a _little girl_?"

"She's got powers," Adam said darkly. "Don't forget that." He sniffed. "And she has this cat, and I'm allergic to them. I _told_ her that, but did she listen? _No_. She set Snowball down right next to me..."

Just then, they heard a _pop_! and Lenora appeared. "There you are, Mrs. Nesbitt!" She said. "Why did you run away from the tea party?" She grabbed his arm. "Come on!" She said. "We're going home!"

"Lenora," Anna said, "Why don't you just let him stay here and I'll come be with you at your tea party?"

"Because he's Mrs. Nesbitt!" Lenora said. "I can't have a party without Mrs. Nesbitt!"

Anna looked at Adam for a moment, then grabbed the hat off his head and put it on herself. "There!" she said. "Now can I be Mrs. Nesbitt?"

Lenora surveyed her thoughtfully for a moment. "All right!" She said at last. "Come on!"

Once they were gone, Adam stood up. "Well, thank god for that," he said. "I've been waiting for an opportunity to get away from her."

"I can't look at this anymore," Stefan said and pulled the apron off. "There. That's much better." He began walking around Adam. "What else can we do with you?"

"Why would you want to do _anything_ with me?" Adam asked confusedly.

"Don't you want to be more than just a four-year-old's playmate?" Stefan asked. "Don't you want to get someone your own age interested in you?"

"That would be nice," Adam nodded. "But _look_ at me. I'm not exactly chick magnet material."

"That's true," Stefan said. "But we can work on that. Can't we, Damon?" He asked his brother.

Damon turned and looked Adam over. "I suppose," he said, making note of Adam's coal-black trousers and plain white shirt. "But it might take awhile. Do you have any other clothes?"

"Well, that's kind of a stupid question," Adam said. "May I remind you that I've been a dog for who knows how many years and dogs don't usually wear clothes. Unless you're stuck living with Lenora and she makes you play fashion show and you have to wear a little pink tutu and a crown..." His hands tensed into fists at the memory and he gnashed his teeth.

"Stefan," Damon said, clapping Adam on the back, "I don't think we should start with clothes. I think we should start with alcohol. Lots and Lots of alcohol. I'm sure Sparky here has lots of memories he'd like to forget."

Adam looked like he wanted to hug Damon, but just settled for saying "Oh, bless you."

* * *

><p>"Remind me what this place is again?" Lucy asked Roxie as they walked into Enid's that evening.<p>

"It's where I work," Roxie said.

"I didn't know you had a job," Lucy said. "Good for you!"

"Don't get too excited," Roxie said. "I didn't choose to work here. Mom arranged it. She thought it would teach me some responsibility."

"And did it?" Lucy asked.

Roxie shook her head. "Not really."

"Well, if you don't like it, then why do you keep doing it?" Lucy asked.

As they approached the bar, Roxie saw that Vince was standing on a ladder with his back to them, dusting off one of the higher shelves that held the alchol. "I didn't say I didn't like it," Roxie said, sitting down at the bar and staring intensely at Vince's butt. "It does have _some_ benefits!"

Just then, Vince turned around. "There you are!" he said and got down off the ladder. "I wasn't sure if you were gonna come in tonight."

"You know," Roxie said, boosting herself over the bar, "I have to say that it really hurts that you don't have more faith in me. I take my responsibilities very seriously."

"Yeah," Vince smirked. "Right." He turned toward Lucy. "And who are you? I don't believe we've met."

Roxie punched him on the arm. "Stop flirting with her! She's had enough of that!"

"I wasn't!" Vince said. "I was just saying 'hello'!"

"Well, all right then," Roxie said. "Sorry. Vince, this is my sister, Lucy. Lucy, this is Vince. He's the guy who lives with me. Or us, rather."

"'Us'?" Vince asked. "Would you care to explain?"

"Lucy has to live with us because she got screwed by Mom's ex-husband and it made Dad upset," Roxie said. "Is that all right with you?"

"Would it matter if it wasn't?" Vince asked.

"No," Roxie shook her head. "Not really."

"I did _not_ get screwed by Mom's ex-husband. Stop saying it like that!" Lucy said irritably.

"You did," Roxie said. "If there's a more poetic way to phrase it than that, let me know." She looked at the clock. "It's almost nine. We have to get ready for the after-dinner crowd."

"What sort of place is this?" Lucy asked.

"A bar," Roxie said and stuck a stick of gum in her mouth.

Lucy's eyes widened. "I can't be in a _bar_!" She exclaimed. "I'm not old enough!"

"Oh, calm down!" Roxie said. "Enid won't get mad at you. Hell, Adrian was _born_ right where I'm standing."

"He was not!" Lucy said.

"Was too!" Roxie replied. "Our family's got a long history here. It was my home for ten years. So no one will kick you out. You don't have to worry."

"What kind of place is this?" Lucy asked. "I mean, I know it's a bar, but what kind of people come in here?"

"Werewolves, mainly," Vince said. "Active ones at that. Inactive ones usually can't find it. I mean, other species come in here occasionally, but that's frowned upon unless they're with a regular."

"Wait..." Lucy said. "So you're saying _werewolves_ come in here? A lot? Because I have this friend from school, his name is Jason, and he turned awhile ago. I should bring him here. It would probably help him."

Just then, the clock chimed nine and the door opened, and Ronan strode in. "Ah, good!" He said. "You're both here!" Lucy turned around on her stool, her eyes widening. "It's Roxie's fault I'm in a bar!" She said quickly. "Please don't yell at me! I didn't know this is where we were coming!"

Ronan gave her a look. "Calm down!" He said. "What's the matter with you?"

"She must think you're our father," Roxie said. "She's terrified about Dad finding her here."

"Well, look what happened last time I did something to make him unhappy!" Lucy said. "I got stuck living with _you_!"

"You could have lived with Adrian, but that would have been even worse for you," Roxie said. "He'd be just as bad as Dad, trust me."

Lucy studied Ronan. "If you're not my dad, then who are you? You really do look a lot like him."

"That's Dad's dad," Roxie said. "Ronan, meet Lucy. She's the baby of the family."

Ronan looked Lucy over. "I thought you were only supposed to be a little thing! What's happend to you?"

"I got on the bad side of a witch and this is the result," Lucy said. "Technically, I'm only six years old."

Ronan nodded. "Well, that makes as much sense as anything, I suppose." He looked at her. "Do you want a soda?"

"Okay," Lucy said. "Thanks."

Ronan handed her a can and said, "I wonder if I'll get any more surprises tonight."

* * *

><p>About half past midnight, the door opened again and Klaus ambled in with a grin on his face and sat down at the bar.<p>

"You look happy," Ronan said to him. "Can I get you anything?"

"Any champagne back there?" Klaus asked and as Ronan pulled it out, Roxie came up behind her father. "What's the champagne for?" She asked. "Are you celebrating something?"

"As a matter of fact, I am," Klaus said to her. "And I don't want to hear anything negative come out of your mouth."

"Well, what is it?" Ronan asked.

Klaus cleared his throat. "For the past...very long time, I have been roommates with a woman named Caroline and we finally decided to make our relationship official. I asked her and she's consented to live with me as more than just my roommate."

"How long has this been going on?" Roxie asked.

"Oh, for a couple of months," Klaus said.

Roxie's lip curled. "Well, it's nice you were able to pull yourself out of bed long enough to dress and come and share that with us," she said. She threw the dish towel she was holding down on the floor and stomped out of the bar.

"I'll go deal with her," Vince said to Klaus. "You just keep celebrating."

"I'm sure she's glad for you," Ronan said to Klaus. "How she's acting, that's just her way."

"Yes," Klaus said. "I wasn't expecting anything else from her."

Then he noticed Lucy. "And how about you?" He asked her. "Are you mad at me too?"

"No," Lucy shook her head. "I _like_ Caroline. I'm happy for you."


	43. Don't Shoot The Messenger

"Hey," Vince said, going out the front door of the bar and finding Roxie sitting on the front step. "What happened in there?"

"Didn't you _hear_?" Roxie sniffled. "The woman Daddy's living with is living with him as his _girlfriend_!"

Vince sat down next to her. "Yeah, I heard. Why is that a problem?"

"Because it's one more woman for him to pay attention to who isn't me!" Roxie said. "God, Dad can be so self-centered sometimes!"

"He's happy because he's in a relationship and _he's_ the self-centered one?" Vince asked. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Roxie said. "She's just a floozy. I'm his daughter. He should be paying attention to _me_!" She sighed. "But then again, it's not like this is new behavior. He hasn't paid attention to me in _years_."

"Have you ever tried _telling_ him you want attention?" Vince asked. "I mean, Lucy's not a little kid anymore. I'm sure he could find time for you if you told him you wanted it."

"Oh, please," Roxie said. "With Lucy having her eye on Damon? Dad won't look away for a minute!"

"Well, then what if you tried a different tack to get the attention you want?" Vince asked. "What if you looked _outside_ of yourself and tried to give to others? That might fill the gaping love hole."

"I do _not_ have a gaping love hole!" Roxie said irritably. "I'm fine."

"Well, then I guess you don't want a hug," Vince said.

"No," Roxie shook her head. "I don't need any of your sympathy hugs, thank you very much!"

"Okay," Vince said, slowly removing his shirt and throwing it in a bush. "I'll just be waiting here, all alone, for when you do." Whistling, he began to edge sideways towards the door and then Roxie ran after him and threw herself at him, knocking him to the ground and hugging him hard.

He looked up at her and moved some hair out of her eyes. "That's better," he said. She leaned closer. "What do you say we ask Enid to let us off early and go home?"

"And leave your sister here by herself?" Vince said. "That's not very responsible!"

"Dad's here. Let him take her home for the night. It will be a good lesson for her," Roxie told him.

"No," Vince shook his head. "We are going to finish our shift and then take your sister home with us."

Roxie pouted. "Oh, okay. But my idea would have been more fun." She got up off him and Vince put his shirt back on and headed toward the bar. "You gonna come in with me?" He asked. "Or are you just gonna sulk out here?"

"When my daddy leaves, I'll come inside," Roxie said. "But not before then."

Vince rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever."

* * *

><p>"So where exactly did you go last night?" Caroline asked Klaus the next morning.<p>

"I went out to a bar," he said to her. "You've been there. Enid's."

"Oh, the werewolf place where your scary daughter works?" Caroline asked. "I remember it!"

"I went there to tell everyone about the change in our arrangements, including Roxanne," Klaus said. "That's the name of my 'scary daughter'."

"Well, I'm sorry, but she _is_," Caroline said. "I remember how she looked at me the first time she saw me! I thought she wanted me dead!"

Klaus sighed. "She probably still does, but it's a werewolf thing, Caroline. That doesn't mean she's ever going to get a chance to carry through with it. And when you really get to know her, she's not scary at all."

"Let me guess," Caroline said. "Underneath her mean exterior, there's a sad little girl who just wants to be loved."

"Maybe," Klaus said. "Maybe. So I take it you don't want to go back there with me."

"I might," Caroline said. "As long as it's at a time when Roxanne's not working."

"You're going to have to get to know her sometime," Klaus said. "After all, she's been in my life far longer than you have. I can't just make her go away because you don't know how to talk to her."

"Well, what's the point in teaching me?" Caroline asked. "It seems to me like she's as reluctant to get to know me as I am to get to know her."

"Well, at one time or another, you two are going to have to talk and at least learn to be civil. That's all I would want out of either of you," Klaus said. "You don't have to be friends, you just have to be able to be in the same room without making me worry about whether or not the two of you will kill each other."

"I think she'll need that talk more than I will," Caroline said. "Seeing as she's stronger than me and could probably flatten me in two seconds."

Klaus sighed. "Fine. I'll ask her over and I'll see what I can do. But if she agrees to be civil, I hope you can as well."

Caroline nodded. "Of course. I will if she will."

* * *

><p>"So this is what a mall looks like?" Adam asked, letting the sound of the grand piano wash over him and watching people scurry in and out of stores.<p>

"Yeah," Stefan said. "You didn't know that?"

"No," Adam said, reddening. "First my mother bought my clothes, and then my personal shopper, and then as a dog, I didn't need clothes. It was a much simpler time."

They walked into a men's clothier and instructed Adam to try on dress shirts, and things were going fine until, as Damon came back with three more shirts and a suit jacket for Adam to try on, he suddenly ducked into the dressing room and slammed the door behind him.

"What's the matter with you?" Stefan called.

"I think I just saw Lucy!" Damon whispered loudly. "Over by the rack with all the dress slacks on it! Do you see her?"

"No," Stefan said. "I think you're seeing things. You haven't seen Lucy in so long that you think you saw her."

"I am not," Damon said. "I would know that hair and those long legs anywhere."

Stefan gave him a look.

"I mean," Damon said, "I would know her anywhere."

Stefan rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Give me the shirts," he said. "I'll get them to Adam."

"Here," Damon said. "Take them. If you need me, I'll be in the food court."

"Is he always like that?" Adam asked as Stefan helped him put on his suit jacket.

"What? You mean crazy?" Stefan asked. "Yeah. But it's only recently it's gotten noticeable enough to irritate me." They both looked in the mirror. "So what do you think?" Stefan asked.

Adam looked at the suit jacket and squirmed. "It feels weird," he said. "I don't like it."

"Do we need to try a bigger size?" Stefan asked. "Or a smaller one?"

"It's not the size," Adam said. "The size is fine. I just don't like it!"

"Fine," Stefan said. "We'll go try something else."

After they tried on what seemed to be every jacket and shirt in Adam's size that the store head to offer, Stefan looked at him. "So did you see _anything_ you like, or should we try another store?"

"I don't see why we have to go so fancy at all," Adam said, even eyeing his original clothes with distate and fiddling with the button on his cuff. "Why can't we do something more casual?"

"No," Stefan said. "If I were you, I wouldn't start with casual. You need to have a suit in your wardrobe. It makes you seem less like a slob, which believe it or not is very attractive to women."

"I used to drool and lick myself in public and women still loved me," Adam said. "Did you know that?"

"But you're not a dog anymore, you're a person," Stefan said, trying to be patient. "Do you remember _that_?"

"Excuse me," said a pretty, long-legged saleswoman in a black suit. "Can I help you find anything?"

"No, thank you," Adam said. "We were just leaving." He began pushing a very resistant Stefan out the door of the store and once they were out in the lobby, Adam said musingly, "I'm hungry. I wonder if they have any places around here that sell big cookies."

* * *

><p>Damon was having much better luck in the food court. "There you are!" He said when he saw Lucy sitting at a table near the Cinnebon. "I thought I saw you, but Stefan said I was crazy."<p>

Lucy pushed a bag of clothes underneath the table with her foot. "Hello, Damon," she said. "What brings you to the mall?"

"Stefan and I have been attempting to reacclimatize Rusty," he said.

"And how has that been going?" Lucy asked. "I bet it won't be easy. He's been a dog forever."

"I wouldn't know," Damon said. "I got bored right away and left. Well, that and Stefan was tired of hearing me talk about you. Where have you been? Why didn't you answer any of the letters I sent you? Didn't you get them?"

"I got them," Lucy nodded. "But I just-I needed a little break from us, you know? To think about stuff."

"Well, are you done?" Damon asked.

"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "I'm done. That and I've finally decided that I don't care what Dad and Adrian and whoever else thinks. If I want to spend time with you, I will."

Damon peeked under the table. "What's in the bag?" He asked.

"I just bought some stuff for Lenora," Lucy said. "As an early birthday present, you know."

"Ah," Damon said. "All right."

"Speaking of Lenora," Lucy said, "I was going to tell you something: Helene and Adrian are thinking of getting her a nanny and Adrian wondered if you'd be interested."

"Your brother wants me to look after Lenora?" Damon asked. "I would have thought he wouldn't want me near any other females related to him, you know, since you and I...did what we did."

Lucy shrugged. "Well, he seemed very insistent," she said. "So what will I tell him? Would you accept the job? I come by to visit at least two or three times a week if that will help your decision." She looked at him appealingly.

"Well, how could I say 'no' to that?" Damon asked. "You can tell Adrian I accept."

Just then, a voice came over the speakers: "Could we have security at Rothman's, please? Security at Rothman's, asap."

It just so happened that the balcony near the men's clothing store was just above the food court and Lucy and Damon watched in amazement as a naked Adam ran down the escalator with four security guards after him and jumped into the fountain in the center of the food court. When he saw Damon, Adam grinned sheepishly. "I think I'm ready to go home now," he said.

* * *

><p>After Damon, Stefan and Adam left the mall, Lucy picked up her things and drove over to Adrian's. Her brother met her at the door. "So," he said, "When are you planning on talking to Damon about the job offer?"<p>

"I did it already, as a matter of fact," Lucy said. "I ran into him at the mall when I was getting Lenora's birthday presents."

"He didn't try and touch you, did he?" Adrian asked.

"No," Lucy said. "I was sitting in front of Cinnebon and we talked. That's all. That and we saw Rusty streak through the mall and jump in the fountain. I do not know _what_ is going on there, but maybe we should consider turning him into a dog again."

"So what did he say about the job?" Adrian asked, ignoring the change of subject. "Did he say yes or no?"

"I don't understand why you're so eager to let him have the job," Lucy said. "If you won't let him near me, I don't see why you'll let him near Lenora."

"Because Lenora is different," Adrian said. "She's little, not to mention she'll turn him into a toad or something if things get out of had. Or even if they don't. You know how trigger happy she is with her magic."

"You're hoping that Lenora will turn Damon into something gross, aren't you?" Lucy said. "Adrian, that's really transparent."

"That's what I told him," Helene said, coming in with a cup of coffee in hand. "I told him it was transparent and stupid, but he still wants to go through with it."

"How do _you_ feel about all this, Helene?" Lucy asked her.

"Well," Helene said, taking a sip of her coffee, "I think Adrian is acting ridiculous, but if he feels the need to satisfy a macho revenge fantasy, it's not like I'll be able to stop him, right? So I think I'll just sit back and laugh."

"I don't see what's so funny about this situation," Adrian asked.

"Well, you're rooting for Damon to fail," Helene said. "And honestly, I don't think he will."

"Of course he will," Adrian said. "One tea party with Lenora will send him screaming for the hills."

"I don't know," Lucy said. "He used to play tea party with me all the time. And he was pretty good at it."

Adrian growled. "Don't _ever_ talk about him playing with you in front of me ever again," he said.

"Well, fine," Lucy told him. "No need to throw a fit."

"Did you say you brought Lenora's presents with you?" Helene asked. "We can keep them here if you want."

"No," Lucy said. "I can keep them. But thanks for the offer, Helene."

* * *

><p>"I think I'll go take Lenora those clothes I bought her," Lucy told Roxie a few weeks later.<p>

"Take your time," Roxie said absently.

"Oh, all right," Lucy said. She grabbed the bag of clothes that she'd put by the door and got in the car to drive over to Adrian's. True, she didn't exactly have a permit to drive, but as long as she compelled the police officers to forget that, it wasn't really a problem. When she reached Adrian's house, she saw a familar car in the driveway: Damon's car.

Grinning, Lucy parked in the street and went up to the front door, knocking loudly. Then, the door opened and she dropped the clothes in shock.

"Can I help you?" Damon asked. He was wearing a dress and a floppy hat. Lucy stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing.

"Oh, my god!" She said when she could breath. "Why the hell are you dressed like that?"

"Because Lenora and I are playing tea party," Damon said. "And apparently, my normal look isn't allowed."

Lucy picked up the bag of clothes again. "May I come in?" She asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"Sure," Damon said, gesturing into the hallway. "Knock yourself out."

Lucy stepped inside and said, "How's watching Lenora?"

"Your Aunt Anna's glad I have a hobby," Damon said. "Apparently, she was sick of me hanging around the house all day." He paused. "Lenora! Your Aunt Lucy is here!"

"Yay!" Lenora said, running into the room and giving Lucy a hug. "What's in the bag?"

"I brought you some clothes," Lucy said. "You can try them on and see if you like them."

"I think we should take a walk," Damon said. "Down in the park so you can get some fresh air."

"Okay," Lenora said. "Let's go!"

"Wait a minute!" Lucy said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Give Damon some time to get out of his tea party costume. He probably doesn't want to walk around the park like that."

"Why not?" Lenora asked. "I think he looks pretty."

"I think I'll go change," Damon said. "Where did you put my clothes?" He asked Lenora.

"In my room," she said.

"Why do you need to ask her where your clothes are?" Lucy asked.

"She likes to hide them," Damon said. "I learned that right off the bat."

"Well, Mrs. Nesbitt wouldn't wear _boy _clothes," Lenora said.

"You hide Damon's clothes?" Lucy asked, looking at her niece. "Well, that's just-just-" She gave Damon a look. "Are you gonna go change, or what?"

Damon left to go find his clothes and once he was gone, Lucy said to Lenora, "You hide Damon's clothes? That's so clever! I wonder why I didn't think of that sooner!"

* * *

><p>When they reached the park, it was crowded with people, enjoying the first reasonably cool for summer day they'd had in weeks. "Can we play with my dolls?" Lenora asked Lucy.<p>

"How about you play with your dolls under that tree, and Damon and I will go look at those flowers?" Lucy asked, nodding at a flower bed.

"Okay," Lenora said. "But don't do it for too long. I need someone to be Ken. I can't be him by myself." She ambled off in the direction of the tree and spread out her toys.

"Wanna look around?" Lucy asked Damon.

"Sure," he shrugged. "Why not?" As they made their way toward the flower bed, Damon's eyes widened as he felt Lucy's hand go down his back and over his butt. "What are you doing?" He asked her.

"I wanna touch you," she said. "I've missed you." She kissed him before he had time to pull away, her hands going from around his waist into his back pocket.

"What are you _doing_?" Damon asked. "Lenora might see!"

Lucy looked at Lenora, who was deeply absorbed in playing with her dolls. "She's not even paying attention!" Lucy said. She spied a gazebo and pulled Damon inside it. "Would it be easier for you to concentrate in here?" She asked.

"Yeah," Damon looked around. "This is better." They began kissing and touching each other everywhere. Lucy felt incredibly glad she'd decided to wear a skirt that day. As his hand went up her thigh, she kissed down his neck and let out a moan as he rubbed her panties. She unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off, but just as he was about to unzip her skirt, they heard knocking.

"I know you're in here!" Lenora called. "I heard the kissing noises! Damon has to come out and be Ken or I'll tell Daddy!"

Lucy and Damon looked at each other guiltily. "We're coming, Lenora," Lucy said. "Just a minute."

* * *

><p>Selina led Gregory down the hallway and paused outside Elijah's office door. "Now remember," she said, pausing, "We have to knock because it's polite." She got up from her crawling posture and, balancing on her knees, knocked on the door. "Come in," Elijah called.<p>

Selina got back down on her knees and whispered to Gregory, "You go in ahead of me." She opened the door and nudged Gregory on his bottom to make him move, and then watched as he crawled in. "Surprise," Selina said to Elijah, who came around his desk to get down on the carpet next to Gregory. "I bet you didn't know it was us, did you?"

"Well, I was confused when I told you to come in and the door opened and no came," he said, taking Gregory back to sit on his lap. "But now, I get it."

Gregory leaned against his chest and Selina looked at the two of them and said, "Aww! That is so cute! It's scary how much the two of you look alike, you know."

"I think that's a good thing," Elijah said.

Just then, they heard the phone ring. "You two stay here," Selina said. "I'll go get it." She ran to get the phone. "Hello?"

"Mom?" a voice said on the other end of the line. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," Selina asked. "What do you need, Roxanne?"

"I need help," Roxie said.

"From _me_?" Selina asked. "Why?"

"Dad wants me to be friends with that Caroline woman," Roxie said. "He's gonna put the two of us in a room tomorrow and expect us to get along."

"And what sort of help do you want me to give you?" Selina asked.

"Be my buffer, please!" Roxie begged. "I know that if I don't have a buffer, things won't end well!"

"But why me?" Selina asked. "Why couldn't you ask Vince?"

"I tried him, but he and Tony are going to the shooting range!" Roxie said. "I figured if you and Uncle Elijah came, it would be less awkward!"

"All right, all right," Selina said. "Take a deep breath and just stay calm. Now, when is this thing your dad set up?"

"Three days from now!" Roxie said. "Cancel everything on your schedule. I'm that desperate!"

"Why are you trying so hard?" Selina asked. "You've never put forth effort in a situation like this before."

"I know," Roxie said. "It's an ugly shock to me too. Ordinarily, I would resort to acts of sabotage to make Caroline look like an idiot, but-"

"But what?" Selina asked.

"But it's just that Dad's so happy, and I don't want him to be unhappy just because I am," Roxie said quietly."

Selina grinned to herself. "I'll tell you what," she said. "I'll talk to your uncle, and I'll see what we can do about three days from now. all right?"

"All right," Roxie said. "Thank you, Mom."

"You're welcome, Roxanne," Selina said. "And I'm sure your father will be proud of you when he sees the effort you're putting forth on his behalf."

"He better," Roxie said. "It's hard work!" She hung up without so much as a goodbye and Selina went back to Elijah's office where he and Gregory were looking at the paper. Selina walked over to the desk and peeked at what they were reading. "Not the comics, I see," she said.

"Of course not," Elijah said, and then looked sheepishly at Selina. "Not that there's anything _wrong_ with people who read the comics instead of real news. Who was on the phone?"

"Roxanne," Selina said. "Apparently, Nicky and my friend Caroline have made their relationship official, so he wants Roxie to get along with Caroline, but Roxie's freaking out and wants me to come to this thing Nicky's having three days from now and be her buffer so the whole thing doesn't end in disaster."

"She wants you to come by yourself?" Elijah asked.

"No," Selina shook her head. "With you. She asked that you come too, but even if she hadn't, I wouldn't go through an evening like that by myself, so you would have come either way, right?"

Elijah sighed. "I guess."

"See?" Selina said. "I'm giving you unpleasant news and we're dealing with it. Aren't you proud of me?"

"Yes," Elijah said, rubbing his temple. "Ecstatic."


	44. A Lesson In Phone Etiquette

The morning of the party, things began very slowly.

"I don't want to get up," Selina groaned and pulled the covers over her head. "Don't make me!"

"If you're dreading what I think you are, it's your own fault," Elijah said. "You're the one who said we'd come to that party when Roxanne called. The least you could have done is tell her only you were coming. I don't see why both of us have to be miserable."

"We're both gonna be miserable because you love me and I promise to reward you handsomely after," Selina said. "And if I don't support Roxie, you know what will happen? We will have a repeat of me and my mother and I refuse to be in the role of my mother!"

"Why can't I just stay home and watch Gregory?" Elijah asked. "I would like that much better."

"You are such a whiner," Selina said. She looked at the clock. "Come on, let's get up. Gregory's probably waiting for us."

"But you said you didn't want to get out of bed!" Elijah looked at her incredulously.

"Well, your faint-heartedness inspired me," Selina said. "Come on!"

Rolling his eyes, Elijah followed her out of bed, but this morning, he got nothing out of watching her dress. He just stood there staring at her with a stony expression on his face.

"Oh, come on, Mr. Grumpy Gills!" Selina said, patting him lightly on his face. "It's a new day. Be cheerful!"

"You be cheerful," Elijah said. "I don't see anything to be cheerful about. And I don't like when you have those weird mood changes that you have."

"Well, maybe I don't like to be in a room of unhappy people," Selina told him. "And if only you and I are in a room and you're unhappy, that gives me no choice but to be the happy one. Now are you coming to breakfast or are you just gonna stay in here and sulk?"

"I'll have a cup of coffee," he said gruffly. "And then I am going to read in my office."

"Fine," Selina said. "You just be that way."

And true to his word, Elijah drank a quick cup of coffee, then strode out of the kitchen, leaving Selina alone to spoonfeed Gregory mushed up bananas by herself. She wiped off Gregory's face, picked him up and went to Elijah's office. "You don't want Gregory to read with you?" Selina asked him. "I thought that was your thing."

Elijah put the paper down, gave her a long look, and then got out of his desk chair and came and took Gregory back to his desk.

"Lighten up," Selina said to him. "You look grumpy and Gregory might get scared."

Elijah tried to give Gregory a reassuring look, because he did indeed look a little nervous. Then he looked up at Selina.

"You can go now," he said.

"Fine," Selina replied, closing the door behind her. "Goodbye."

* * *

><p>In an attempt to make herself seem as intellectual as Elijah was, Selina decided to take Gregory to the local aquarium. As they wheeled through it, Selina found herself pointing out all the different kinds of fish: "This is a starfish, and a jellyfish (aren't they shiny?) And some angel fish and some coral, and-"<p>

Just then, Gregory's eyes widened as a shark passed right near the glass. Selina picked him up and brought him over to the tank. "That's a shark," she said. She tried to shield him from it, thinking it would scare him, but instead, he reached out and put his small hand against the glass. "Shar," he said quietly.

"Sharks are scary," Selina said. "They eat all the other fishes and make them run away. Or swim away, since fishes don't have feet." But he seemed not to hear her, staring in fascination at all the fish in the tank.

"You must like the fishies," Selina said. "Let's keep going and see some more."

* * *

><p>Lucy was in her studio throwing darts at paint-filled balloons when she heard a knock on the studio door. "Come in!" She called. "And watch the floor! It's covered with paint!"<p>

Mimi opened the door and came inside. "Sorry to disturb you," she said. "But I just had to come in. I have something important to tell you."

Lucy pushed her hair out of her eyes and pulled up the long plastic smock she wore while she was painting so she could walk over and join Mimi on the sofa without tripping. "What is it?" She asked. "Is it bad news?"

"No, very good, actually," Mimi told her. "Remember how you gave me that picture you painted of the rose garden at the historical society?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah. The one your friend with the art gallery wanted to see?"

Mimi nodded and grinned. "Well, my friend was so impressed that she decided she wants more."

Lucy's eyes widened. "Really? That's so cool! But-"

"And that's not all!" Mimi rushed on. "She wants to use your paintings to promote her art gallery in Paris! If you give her more and let her make an exhibit, she and her assistants will give you lessons in any medium you'd like! What do you think about that?"

Lucy's eyes widened and her mouth opened and closed rapidly. "I-I don't know _what_ to say," she finally got out. "It seems like a wonderful opportunity. But I don't know how my parents will feel about my going off to Europe by myself."

"Well, introduce me to them then," Mimi said. "I'll help them see the light if this is something you really want."

"It is," Lucy nodded. "It is.

* * *

><p>Selina stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around herself and put her hand on the doorknob to turn it, but as she turned it, she heard a voice: "Just so you know, I'm sitting out here on the bed, so unless you're wearing a bathrobe, you might not want to come out."<p>

"Nicky?" Selina asked. "When did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago," he said. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Selina said. "Hang on." She put her bathrobe on and stepped out into the bedroom where Klaus, fully dressed, was sitting on the bed. "Don't worry," he grinned. "I left the door open. Elijah won't think you and I are up to anything."

"How kind of you," Selina said. She grabbed a dress out of the closet and brought it out. "Oh, don't wear that one," Klaus said, eyeing the yellow dress with distate. "You look much better in cooler colors. Don't you have anything in purple or green?"

Selina rolled her eyes and put on a green dress instead. "So what did you want to talk about?" She asked. "The thing with Roxie tonight?"

Klaus nodded. "Just a bit. I mean, I love her and I have feelings for Caroline. Is it wrong for me to want them to be civil to one another?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "It's not an unreasonable request. And here's something to think about: When Roxie called to tell me about the little get-together and invite me to come, she said she was really gonna do her best to make a pleasant night for you because she likes that you're happy. That's something, isn't it?"

"Yes," Klaus nodded, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. "That _is_ something."

Just then Elijah knocked on the door. "Phone for you," he said. "It's Lucy." He held it out.

"Which one of us?" Selina asked. "Me?"

Elijah shrugged. "Lucy said either one of you."

"I'll take it," Selina said. She took the phone from him and said, "Hi, honey. What's going on?"

"A really good opportunity has been presented to me, but I felt I should talk to you and Daddy before I accepted," Lucy said. "Would you come over to my studio and talk about it to me and my teacher?"

"Your teacher?" Selina asked. "What kind of opportunity?"

"You'll see when you get here," Lucy said. "So can I tell Mimi you're coming?"

"Sure," Selina said. "But Lucy, what opportunity-"

Just then, Lucy hung up. "Well that was uninformative," Selina said.

"What is it?" Klaus asked. "Has Lucy gotten herself into more trouble?"

"Not that I heard," Selina told him. "She says an opportunity has been presented to her, but she wanted to talk with us about it before she accepted. We're supposed to meet her at her apartment. She didn't tell me anything more than that. So should we go?"

"Might as well," Klaus said. They headed out the door and Selina put them on a detour to Elijah's office.

"Why are we here?" Klaus asked.

"I'm gonna ask Elijah if he wants to come with us," Selina said.

"Why?" Klaus asked.

"Because he raised Lucy too," Selina said. "He deserves to be made aware of whatever Lucy's got up her sleeve."

"But he's not even her father," Klaus said. "_I_ am!"

"He helped me raise her," Selina said. "That's close enough."

"Well that's just jolly!" Klaus said. "Why don't we invite Damon to come with us as well? You shacked up with him for six months after she was born, and now _she_'s doing it too!"

"You stop!" Selina said. "Or I'm leaving you behind and just Elijah and I will go. At least he'll handle things maturely. You got to beat Damon up for the Lucy thing and now we have to move on." Klaus' lips became a thin line as Selina opened the door and the two of them walked into Elijah's office.

"Hi," Selina said, leaning over Elijah's desk. "Wanna come with us to see Lucy?"

Elijah stood up. "Sure." He saw Klaus' look. "Do you have a problem with that, Niklaus?"

"No," Klaus said after Selina trod on his foot. "No, it's perfectly all right for you to come."

"We can even stop for lunch on the way if you'd like," Selina said. She went and got Gregory, who would be dropped off at Adrian and Helene's and they left the house.

* * *

><p>They got outside and Selina said to Elijah, "Whose car should we take?"<p>

"Let's take Niklaus'," Elijah said with a grin, his hand coming around her waist. He nuzzled her neck. "He can drive and you and I can sit in the back,

"Or, _you_ could sit up front with him and _I'll_ sit in the back with Gregory," Selina said, moving his hand. "In fact, I think that's what would be best."

Elijah watched her stride to the car and open the backseat door while Klaus sniggered behind his back. "Bad luck, brother," he said.

Elijah sighed. "Just get in the car, Niklaus," he said. "And I think it might be best if we speak only sparingly until we reach Lucy's."

* * *

><p>"Mom! Dad! Uncle Elijah?" Lucy looked at the group as they stood on the other side of the door. "Glad you could make it! Wanna come in?"<p>

They came in and sat down and Klaus said, "I don't know what you've got in your head now, Lucy Elizabeth, but it better not be anything bad."

"It's nothing bad," Lucy said. "Or at least nothing you and Mom haven't done before."

"A lot of things can fall under that category," Selina said. "Stealing, murdering, getting drunk and swimming naked across a canal during Carnavale in Venice and waking up in the house of a very distinguished painter, only to discover that-have I said too much?"

"I remember that," Klaus said, grinning. "You were so out of it the next day and we-"

"Yes," Elijah said dryly. "You _both_ have said too much. Then he turned his attention back to Lucy. "So what is this opportunity you told your mother about?"

"Let me go get Mimi and we'll tell you," Lucy said. She got up and came back with Mimi behind her a few minutes later. "Can I offer you a drink?" Mimi asked. "Some water, tea or soda, perhaps? I'm sorry, we don't have any alcohol around here, but-"

"We're fine, thanks," Selina said. "Now, the news?"

"Lucy is a very talented artist," Mimi said. "I have lots of friends around the world who own galleries and one day about two months ago, one of them came by and took a liking to a piece Lucy had just finished and asked if she would be willing to make more."

"And not only that," Lucy continued. "She wants to use the pieces I make to promote her gallery as well as giving me lessons in any medium I choose! And it will be in _Paris_! So can I go?"

"How long would she be gone?" Selina asked Mimi.

"For a year," Mimi said. "Would that be all right? I would be the one chaperoning her. She'll be well-taken care of, I assure you." She paused. "I'm Mimi Van Allen by the way."

"Mimi, this is my mother, Selina, my father, Klaus, and my uncle Elijah," Lucy said. "Mom sketches and Dad sketches and paints."

Mimi grinned. "Well, it's easy to see where Lucy got her talent from, then."

"I just dabble, really," Selina said. "I haven't picked up a pencil in years."

"She's exaggerating," Lucy told Mimi. "She did a sketch of something a the park near Damon's house. What was it, Mom? A sculpture? A lighthouse type thingy?"

Selina shrugged. "I don't really remember."

"Anyway, it was good," Lucy finished. "And Uncle Elijah doesn't do art that I know of, but he's an art appreciator."

"Well, isn't that delightful?" Mimi looked at all three of them with appreciation. "So what should I tell my friend?" She asked, after a moment of silence. "Can Lucy come to Europe with me or not?"

"We need a moment to talk amongst ourselves," Elijah said. "Would that be all right with you?"

Mimi nodded. "Of course."

Elijah, Selina and Klaus went into a corner and began whispering to each other. "I think she should go," Selina said. "I don't care if the two of you don't. Aside from certain things that I will not mention, I found my time in Europe to be very enlightening and enjoyable."

"I think she should go too," Klaus said. "She'll get to see the world, and it will have an added bonus of getting her away from Damon for a year. Hopefully, she will have lost interest in him by then."

"She'll be eighteen by the time she returns," Elijah pointed out. "Old enough to make her own decisions. If she comes back after a year away and still feels affection for Damon, then we won't stand in her way."

"We won't?" Klaus asked.

"No," Elijah said. "We won't."

"So we're all in agreement that she should go?" Selina asked.

"Yes," Klaus and Elijah said at the same time.

They walked back to the sofa. "So do I get to go?" Lucy asked. She looked eager, as if she already knew the answer.

"Pack your bags," Selina said, giving Lucy a hug. "You're going to Europe!"

* * *

><p>"Oh, my god," Lucy said when she went back to Vince and Roxie's and found Roxie in the kitchen, standing over a smoky pot full of something that looked slimy and gross. "What are you <em>doing<em>?"

"I'm cooking," Roxie said. "I'm having dinner guests this evening, so I would appreciate it if you would clear out."

"What kind of dinner guests?" Lucy asked. "Are you attempting to make more friends? Because serving whatever is in there will _not_ help you."

"Ah ha ha," Roxie said. "It's Dad. He's bringing his stupid girlfriend over because he wants us to _bond_." She rolled her eyes. "And Mom and Uncle Elijah are coming too."

"Caroline is not stupid!" Lucy said. "I like her."

Roxie breathed in sharply. "You would, wouldn't you?" She asked.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Lucy asked. "I will."

"No," Roxie said. "You don't have to. No sense in more of us being miserable than is absolutely necessary."

Lucy took the wooden spoon out of the pot and winced at the black, shiny stuff hanging off of it. "What was this supposed to _be_?"

Roxie shrugged. "Spinach, I think."

Lucy gave her a look. "If you don't want me to stay for the dinner, at least let me help you make something edible."

"Geez, can everyone cook except me?" Roxie asked as she watched Lucy pull stuff out of the cupboards and flip through the pages of the receipe book.

"I'm sure if you asked Mom, she'd help you learn," Lucy said. "That's what I did."

"I doubt Mom would want to do anything to help me," Roxie said.

"She's coming to support you tonight, isn't she?" Lucy said.

"Yeah," Roxie said. "Yeah, she is. Maybe I _will_ ask her to help me find my way around a kitchen after all."

* * *

><p>"Remind me why we're having this thing at Roxie's again?" Caroline asked. "I don't see why we couldn't just have it at our house. We have the space."<p>

"Because it will require more work on Roxanne's part to make her house hospitable," Klaus said. "If she makes an effort, we know it will be a good evening because she's trying. And she's already started by asking Selina to come along."

"Yep," Selina nodded. "She told me that it would be easier for her to get along with everyone if I was there, so here I am. And she said that all she wants is for her father to be happy."

"Well, isn't that nice?" Caroline said.

"It's a shame her boyfriend will be out this evening," Selina said. "Caroline, you'd like him. He's a very sweet guy. Not the type I thought Roxie would fall for, but sometimes you never know with people."

"Will Lucy be there?" Caroline asked. "I haven't seen her since she changed."

"Roxie didn't say she would be," Selina told her. "I think it will only be you, me, Nicky, Elijah and Roxie."

"Oh, yay," Caroline said. "What fun."

"Be nice," Klaus said. "If she's making an effort, I expect nothing less of you as well."

"Fine," Caroline said. "I can't wait to get this stupid evening over with."

"You and me both," Elijah said from the backseat.

"Cheer up," Selina said. "Want to hear about the trip Gregory and I took to the aquarium today?"

* * *

><p>"Hello, everyone!" Roxie said. "Welcome to my house."<p>

Klaus and Selina looked in surprise at Roxie's conservative long sleeved light pink dress.

"You like it?" Roxie asked. "I got it on clearance. I bet you thought I'd be wearing something that was slit up to my navel, didn't you?"

"It's very nice," Klaus said. "You look beautiful, Roxanne."

Roxie's eyes lit up. "Thank you, Daddy!" She gestured for them to come inside and just as Caroline and Klaus crossed the threshold, Caroline linked her arm with Klaus'.

"Twisted my ankle," she explained to Roxie. "I'm more stable if I'm holding on to someone."

"Sure," Roxie said. "Whatever. I like that dress you're wearing. Blue is a good color on you." She led them to the dining room where dinner was set out, chicken and vegetables and bread.

"Did you order in?" Selina asked as Elijah and Klaus pulled out her and Caroline's chairs and they all sat down. "It looks good."

"I made it, actually," Roxie said. "Not by myself. Lucy helped."

"Is she here?" Caroline asked.

"No," Roxie said. "I'm sorry. She had to go out, I'm afraid."

"Bummer," Caroline said.

"If everyone is settled, I'll bring out the first course," Roxie said. She came out with a thick red liquid in a bowl and set it down. "Tomato soup," she said. "I thought it would be a good thing to start out with."

She passed it around and everyone took some until the bowl was set in front of Caroline, who was sitting on Roxie's right with Klaus on her other side. "No, thanks," Caroline said, looking at it. "I think I'll just have the bread. But as she reached for the bread, her elbow knocked the bowl and send it right into Roxie's lap. Roxie let out a shriek and stood up.

"Excuse me," she said through her teeth. "I have to go and change. You all just keep eating. Don't wait for me."

She left and Caroline looked around the table and set her napkin in her lap. "Sorry about that," she said. "I'm just so clumsy sometimes!"

"Accidents happen," Klaus said, but when she looked away, he frowned at the back of her head.

When Roxie came back, she was dressed more like her usual. "Sorry about my attire," she said. "I need to buy more nice dresses. That one was all I have at the moment."

Elijah passed Roxie the chicken. "This is delightful. Do you want some?"

Roxie nodded. "Thank you." She cut some and put it on her plate, and then Caroline said, "Roxanne, you really do have a unique way with chicken. Most people worry so much about tenderness and flavor, but I like your take: moistness be damned!"

Roxie stood up. "Who would like a drink?"

"I'll come with you and help," Selina said. "I'll grab wine."

"You see what she's doing in there?' Roxie asked Selina. "I'm trying to be good and she's wrecking it for me!"

Selina sighed. "I know, but just keep being good. Your father is keeping track of all this. It'll pay off in the end. I'm proud of you." She grabbed the wine and Roxie grabbed a soda and they went back to the dining room. Selina held up the bottle. "Who wants some?"

The wine went all around and Caroline had more of it than Roxie and Selina thought she ought to, and soon she began trying to play footsie with everyone at the table. After being an unwilling participant, Roxie brought her leg back and kicked out randomly. Klaus groaned Roxie winced. "Sorry, Daddy. I wasn't aiming for you. I swear."

"Ha ha!" Caroline laughed. "You missed! How about another glass of wine, Selina?"

"I think you've had enough," Selina said. "Let's go fix you up so you won't make a fool of yourself anymore."

Selina tried to help Caroline up, but she failed and Caroline fell into Klaus lap and immediately stuck her tongue down his throat.

"Well, I think we've past the point of no return on that, Mom," Roxie said. "How about _I _ help Caroline?" She led Caroline into the kitchen and ran water in the sink. After it had filled up, she stuck Caroline's head in there and kept it submerged until Caroline was flailing her limbs about, and then pulled her up by the hair. "Listen, you bitch!" she said quietly. "I have worked _damned_ hard to make this a nice evening for all of us and apparently, you don't feel like returning the favor. Well, I'm doing being Miss Nice Girl. Next time you see me, you better run in the opposite direction." She then grabbed Caroline's arm and marched her back to the dining room. "All better," she said. Caroline was oddly silent for the rest of the night.

* * *

><p>Damon opened the door and nearly fell over at the sight of Lucy in a red cocktail dress. "Hello," she said.<p>

"Hi," he finally got out. "You look nice." He handed her a bouquet of roses

Lucy grinned. "Thank you. I wasn't sure I was gonna be able to go out tonight, but Roxie had a thing at the house and wanted me to clear out, so it's just me all by my lonesome. Can I come in?"

"Oh, right!" Damon said. "Yes, come in, please!"

She sauntered into the house, and Damon followed behind her. "Can I get you anything?" He asked. "Like a drink?"

"As long as it's not juice or milk," Lucy said.

"I got sparkling grape juice," he said.

"So I can pretend like I'm drinking!" Lucy said. "That's so great!"

"No, I just thought it would be something a little different, that's all," Damon said. He poured them each a glass, and after they drank it, Lucy stood up. "I assume you remember what almost happened in the gazebo at the park."

"Yeah," Damon said. "I do. But it's a good thing Lenora showed up when she did, huh?"

"Oh, hush!" Lucy said. "You don't believe that and neither do I! This could be my last free night ever, so why don't we finish what we started?"

"Honey, did you drink before I came here?" Damon asked her.

"No," Lucy said. "I'm not drunk! Even though Roxie's horrible with the lock on the liquor cabinet, I swear I'm not drunk. See?" She kissed him and he didn't smell alcohol on her breath. As she pulled away, she said. "You know I wouldn't lie to you about that."

"I know," Damon said. He walked around her. "I like that dress."

She grinned. "You'll like me better out of it."

He grinned back and pulled her to him, pushing her skirt up and running his hands over her bottom as they kissed deeply. Then he picked her up and carried her to his bed where they undressed each other and he ran his hands over her body, knowing that he could close his eyes and he'd still be able to remember every inch of her.

"Kiss me again," she said. "On my neck. I like how your lips feel."

He obliged and then she said, "Sad I'm not a human. If I was and I asked you, would you turn me?"

He paused and looked at her. Her blue eyes were bottomless and he let himself get lost in them for a moment before he said, "No. That's not something you do to someone you love. And Lucy, I love you too much to ruin your life like that."

"Why are you so somber?" Lucy asked. "It's just a hypothetical question."

"Let's not talk anymore," he said. And then he drove into her.

* * *

><p>"I have good news," Lucy said, sitting up after they'd finished for the moment. "I was talking to Mimi, and she said that she had a friend in Europe who saw my work and wants more of it! My paintings, I mean! This woman wants me to come to Europe and she'll teach me to paint better if I allow her to use my work to promote her studio! I'm gonna get to see Paris and Rome and all sorts of places like that. Isn't it exciting?"<p>

"Are you gonna go?" Damon asked.

Lucy nodded. "Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I? Mom and Dad and Uncle Elijah said it was okay and I'll only be gone for a year!"

"Because Europe is a bad place!" Damon got out. "You know what happened when your mother went to Europe? She turned evil, that's what happened! Do you want that to happen to you?"

Lucy laughed. "Relax! I won't turn evil just because I'm going to Europe! It's too good of an opportunity to pass up!"

"Well, I really think you're being selfish," Damon said. "In all the time you've known about this, did you once stop to think about how you leaving would affect _me_?"  
>"Well, no," Lucy said. "I didn't think you'd have a problem with it."<br>"You were wrong, weren't you?"  
>Lucy nodded. "Clearly I was."<br>"If you love me, you won't go," Damon said. "You walk out that door and we're done."  
>"You're bluffing," Lucy said.<br>Damon shook his head. "No, I'm not."  
>"Fine," Lucy said. "I'm leaving. Goodbye. See you when I get back." She made her way toward the door and Damon yelled, "No, don't go! You were right. I was bluffing!" He grabbed her around the waist and held on to her.<p>

"What is the _matter_ with you?" Lucy asked. "Stop making such a fuss. It's not like I'm dumping you!"

"It was your dad and your uncle, wasn't it?" Damon asked. "They put you up to this, didn't they, because they want to separate us. Well they can't! Let's run away together, tonight."

"Have you completely lost your mind?" Lucy asked. "I know it's tough to hear that I'm leaving but by acting like this, you're really not helping yourself. This kind of behavior ruined Sam's life and I won't let it ruin mine too. Now, let me go so I can dress and leave."

Just then, they heard a door open and a voice call out, "Dad, I'm home! Sorry I didn't call first. Are you here?"

"Speak of the devil," Lucy said. "Damn, I can't leave now. He'll find us!"

"You're staying?" Damon asked. "This is good news!"

"No, it's not!" Lucy said. "Let me go so I can dress!" She pushed herself away from him and began looking around for her clothes, throwing Damon's boxers at him. "Put those on," she said. "If Sam shows up in here, you at least will look presentable."

Lucy was mostly dressed when she heard the footsteps approach. "Sam's coming this way!" Lucy whispered to Damon. "And I can't find my panties! Where did you put them?"

"I don't know," Damon said. "Keep looking!"

Eventually, she figured they must be under the covers, so she crawled into bed to look around. Finally, she grabbed her lacy black thong and pulled it out triumphantly, only to find Sam staring at her.

"Oh, my god," he said to Lucy. "Are those _yours_?" He looked from the panties in her hand to his father clad only in his boxers, then turned around without a word and left the room.

"And that's why you should always call first," Lucy said quietly, flushing scarlet.


	45. A Dastardly Duo

"Where are you going?" Joshua asked as he watched Sam pack his bags.

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. Just somewhere that's not here. I hate it here."

"Why?" Joshua asked.

Sam snorted. "How would you feel if you just found out that your father was having sex with your half sister? Be glad Mom and Dad weren't together long enough to screw _you_ up like they screwed_ me _up."

"Father did _what_?" Joshua asked.

"You heard me," Sam said. "Don't make me say it again."

"So you're just going to leave," Joshua said. "You and Father aren't even going to talk about it?"

"And say what?" Sam asked testily. "Hey Dad, why are you screwing Lucy?"

"Well, no," Joshua said. "But maybe-"

"I'm out of here!" Sam said. "I'd tell you where I was going, but I don't want to be followed. Goodbye. Make sure that Dad knows I left and that it's his fault." He headed out the door and Joshua sighed. It was starting. And it would not end well.

He watched the door for a few minutes, hoping Sam would come back, but when he didn't, Joshua thought it would be best to try and talk some sense into the _other_ part of the problem.

"Are you out of your _mind_?" He yelled, appearing so suddenly in Damon's bedroom that Damon started violently.

"What is it that you want?" Damon asked. He had managed to dress by now and so had Lucy.

"What do you think I want?" Joshua asked. "I want you to explain what the hell is going on here! What were you thinking?"

"We don't have to explain anything to you!" Lucy said. "Besides, I was just leaving anyway."

"I always knew you were trouble," Joshua said to her. "From the moment you were born, picking on poor Sam just because you could! Why do you think I've been down here ever since then?"

"Because you're dead and you have nothing better to do?" Damon guessed.

"As a matter of fact," Joshua said stiffly, "my wife Emma and the children are back waiting for me. I could be having a good time with them in this wonderful approximation of the park where we used to go out for picnics in the spring, but _no_! I choose to stay here and clean up the messes that you won't because you're always too busy pining over some woman! First, I had to spend years and years watching Mother cry because you left her for that Katherine and never came back. And now, I have to watch out for Sam because first you were too stuck on Mother to notice anything wrong with him as well as mooning over this-this _child_ who-"

"Watch it," Lucy said through her teeth. "I'm still your sister."

Joshua narrowed his eyes. "No, you aren't!" He said. "Just because we share the same mother, that does _not_ make us siblings! The only reason why you exist is because both of _my_ parents made colossal errors in judgment! Now if you'll excuse me, I think I should talk to Mother about this. She's probably the only one who will react with the least bit of sense."

"Don't tell her you found us like this!" Lucy called, although he had disappeared. "It will kill her!"

* * *

><p>"Well, that was an absolute disaster!" Elijah said when Selina came back into their room that night. "I hope that you're proud of yourself!"<p>

Selina sat down. "Well, I knew always that it wouldn't go well," she said. "But I can feel good because I was there to support Roxie in her time of need. That action alone could turn her down a good path, you know?"

"I suppose," Elijah said. "But what about _my_ time of need? You do know we could have dropped Gregory off and instead of going to some dumb party we could have spent the whole night in bed?"

Selina sighed. "All right, all right. I guess I deserved that. And I did say that if you got through the party I was gonna reward you, didn't I?"

"Well, yes," Elijah said sulkily.

Selina cleared her throat and stood up, undoing her robe and letting it drop to her feet. She wasn't wearing a thing underneath it. "Now," she said, climbing into bed next to him. 'What was it you were saying about your needs?"

He rolled over and watched her, his eyes traveling over her body. "Just that I have them," he said. She began kissing his neck and running her hands over him. "And that sometimes, I need-" He broke off and kissed her. Soon, they were rolling around on the bed and Selina was giggling loudly. "That tickles!" She cried. "That tickles!"

Just as he was about to drive into her again, she let out a shriek. Joshua was standing at the foot of the bed, staring at them open-mouthed.

"What did you scream for?" Elijah asked. "I haven't done anything yet!"

"You might want to get off me for a minute," she said. "It will make the situation less awkward."

"What situation?" He asked. "Darling, you've gone all pale. What's the matter?" Then he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. "Excuse me," Joshua said quietly. "I don't mean to intrude, but I need a moment alone with my mother."

"Who is that?" Elijah asked Selina.

Selina sighed and covered herself up. "I'll explain in a little bit." She looked at Joshua. "Would you mind doing your little disappearing act while I dress, honey?"

"You don't have to ask me twice," Joshua said. "I'll be back in a minute." He disappeared and Selina got out of bed and put a nightgown and a robe on.

"So who was that?" Elijah said. "He looks unsettlingly like Damon."

"Well, that's because that's Damon's and my first son Joshua," Selina said. "I had him just before I turned. He grew up with Damon's father and lived out his life as a human."

"I figured it was something like that, since he appeared and disappeared so quickly," Elijah said. "But why is he here now? What unfinished business could possibly bring him back after all these years?"

"I think it's because of Sammy," she said. "But I guess I'll see when I talk to him, won't I?"

"Yes," Elijah said huffily. "I guess you will."

"Oh, stop it with the sourpuss," Selina said. "This is important, and it's not likewe can't continue what we were doing when I come back."

"Well, perhaps we won't be able to," Elijah said. "Having the ghost of your long-dead song with another man appear at the foot of the bed and watch us while we're expressing our feelings for one another has to be one of the greatest mood killers in the history of the earth!"

"All right then," Selina said. "It's not like we didn't do anything before he showed up. If you feel tired before I get back, leave the lights on, would you?" Then she dashed out of the room before he could say another word and walked to the library, closing the door behind her before calling for Joshua again.

"Hello, Mother," he said, blushing a little. "I didn't mean to interrupt you."

"Oh, it's fine," Selina said. "These things happen. In fact, with your brother Adrian, they happened much more often than I'd have liked, even _after_ we taught him to knock on a door before he entered a room."

"And with that surprisingly appropriate segue, I would like to talk about what I came here to talk about," Joshua said. "It's fairly important."

"Well, what is it?" Selina asked. "Is it Sammy? Is he hurt?"

Joshua sighed. "He came home to give Father a surprise visit, but unfortunately, it was Sam who got the surprise. He found Father in bed with a woman and, in a way very much like Father himself, has decided to just run away instead of talking things out."

Selina nodded. "Why does that not surprise me?" She looked at Joshua. "I wish I could have raised you. You are so much more sensible than your brother."

"Well, thank you, Mother," Joshua said. "Now, I don't know where Sam went. He just said he was leaving, so when you go to look for him, you might have to drive around a little."

"Look," Selina said calmly, "I know you're worried about your brother and that's sweet, especially when you consider how your Uncle Stefan and your father were for years and years, but I doubt Sam would be wandering the streets at this time of night. The kid's got a band. He probably has bunked with one of his friends because he knows he needs his sleep just like I do. I'll look for him in the morning, I swear. Now is just not a good time."

"Fine," Joshua said. "Wait until morning. But it could be too late. You never know." He disappeared and Selina groaned and stood up, going back to her room. Most of the lights were off, except for the small lamp on the bedside table. Elijah was already asleep. Selina got into bed and shook him.

"What?" He asked groggily.

"Hi," Selina said.

He looked at her for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry, but I'm too tired now. Can't this wait until later?"

"I didn't wake you up for _that_," she said, giving him a hug and massaging his scalp. "I just wanted to hug you goodnight and tell you I was sorry I had to leave so abruptly."

He was a bit more awake now, a small smile softening his features as he took her into his arms. "You're unbelievable," he said. "You mean a lot to me, you and Gregory. I love you both very much. You especially."

Selina grinned. "I love you too!" She said.

He lay down and she snuggled against him. "Goodnight, honey," she said.

He grinned and closed his eyes. "Good night, darling."

* * *

><p>Around two-thirty in the morning, Sam stumbled into a building down the street from his friend's house. It was in a shady part of town, but he didn't care. He could defend himself well after all the years of living around Lucy. Lucy, that snake! That betrayer! That <em>whore<em>! It didn't matter what Dad said. This whole thing was her fault.

"Hey there," the bartender said, his voice accented with a strong Irish brogue. "You can't just come in here. It'll be much more pleasant if you leave of your own accord. It hurts to get thrown out on your ass."

Sam went over to the bar. "If I was drunk when they did it, would it hurt less?"

"You've got a spine," the bartender said appreciatively. "Have a seat and we'll see what we can do for you before someone comes and blows the whistle."

"Thanks," Sam said. "I have had the most horrible day. I found out that my father is having an affair with my half sister. I mean, I never actually saw them naked, but I saw enough to put two and two together."

The bartender sucked in his breath. "Seems like a double whisky is in order for you. Or two."

"Thanks," Sam nodded. "My father used to tell my mother that when she had a problem, the best way to fix it was to drink until you couldn't remember what your problem was and then deal with it in the morning."

The bartender nodded. "Sound advice." He passed the whisky down and Sam studied it. "I'm Sam by the way," he said.

"Ronan," the bartender said, shaking his hand. He looked at the whisky bottle that was now empty. "Roxanne!" he called. "We need another bottle of whisky! Can you check the storeroom?"

"Sure!" Roxie called back. "I'll be in in a minute!"

Sam choked. "That sounded like my sister, Roxie. She work here?"

"You know Roxanne?" Ronan asked. "Did you say she's your sister?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded. "We have the same mom. But different dads. Mom knew my dad first."

"Until he left her to fight in the war and never came back," Roxie said. "Here's the whisky, you wanted, Ronan. Sammy, what are you doing here? And this early in the morning?"

"I can't sleep," Sam said. "Every time I close my eyes, all I see is Dad and Lucy naked. It's not pleasant. I walked around town and came in here. The light was on. It looked nice enough."

"And you're allowed to as well, since you're werewolf kin and all," Roxie said. "It's mainly werewolves and people of werewolf descent that come here."

"You know, I've always wondered about my werewolf side," Sam said. "I mean, Dad said that I had the ability to be one if I wanted, thanks to Mom and all."

"You wanna be one?" Roxie asked.

"Would I be as strong as Lucy?" Sam asked.

"If you were one, she'd have reason to fear you," Roxie said. "If you became a werewolf, since she's not active, you would, in a way, finally have the upperhand of the two of you."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Because werewolf bites hurt vampires," Roxie said. "They make them crazy and rabid and they spit blood, oh, those pictures in Uncle Jake's books were horrible!"

"Wow," Sam said. "I wouldn't mind having people fear me. And I bet it would get Mom and Dad's attention too. Make them forget all about stupid Lucy with her stupid face and perfect GPA!" His fist clenched.

"Don't think you're ever gonna be better than Lucy," Roxie said. "I've been trying that for years and it hasn't worked."

"Who'd she deprive _you_ of?" Sam asked. "Mom?"

Roxie shook her head. "No, it was my dad. The moment precious little Lucy came home, everything that was mine became hers. That was around the time I moved out of Dad's house and in with my boyfriend Vince. I left for just a few hours cause I was moving my things. I came back and Dad had taken a teddy bear from my bed and was using it to bond with that little-"

"What would happen if I bit Lucy?" Sam asked. "Would she die?"

"No," Roxie said, her eyes narrowed. "Her werewolf gene would save her. However, even though it would save her from dying, she'd still become human. You could kill her then. It would be easy."

Ronan cleared his throat. "You two do realize you're planning the murder of one of my grandchildren while I'm standing right here."

Roxie and Sam looked at each other guiltily for a moment, then Roxie said, "We weren't actually gonna do anything. We were just blowing off steam. Right, Sam?"

Sam nodded. "Right, Roxie."

Later, after Roxie finished her shift, she offered to take Sam home with her for the night. "That really sucks about your dad," she said. "I'm sorry."

Sam sighed. "Yeah, well it's not the first time one of my parents has screwed me over. I should be used to it by now."

"At least you know that Mom _wanted_ to have you around even if your dad messed it up for you," Roxie said. "I can't say the same."

"You don't know that," Sam said. "I bet there's _something_ about you that she admires. Maybe she just can't figure out a way to tell you."

"Or maybe we should just stop trying to get love from people who don't really give a damn about us and stick with each other," Roxie said. She stopped at a stoplight and held out her hand. "What do you think?"

Sam looked down and then took it. "I couldn't have said it better."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Selina woke up to the ringing of the phone. "Hello?" She said sleepily. "What is it?"<p>

"It's Roxie," Roxie said. "In case you're wondering about Sam, he stumbled into Enid's around two-thirty this morning and I took him home with me. He's okay."

"Oh, really, Roxanne? Thank you so much for watching out for your brother. Joshua told me he'd run off and I was just gonna go look for him."

"Glad I could help," Roxie said. "Bye, Mom."

Selina turned off her phone and said to Elijah, "Sam's all right. I'm so relieved."

"Good," Elijah said. He sat up. "Do you want to go see to Gregory, or do you want me to?"

"Would you?" Selina asked. "I was up all night worrying about Sam, so I'm still a little-" She yawned. "-sleepy."

"All right," Elijah said, getting up. "I'll go tend to Gregory."

"Before you go," Selina asked, "I've been wondering about these blankets." She fingered his navy comforter.

"What's wrong with them?" He asked. "Do they make you too hot?"

Selina grinned. "No, _you_ make me too hot!" She paused. "Sorry. I just had to do that. Anyway, I was at the store the other day and I saw the most wonderful comforter set. I was thinking that it would look good in here."

"I don't know," Elijah said hesitantly.

"They aren't too girly, if that's what you're worried about," Selina said. "They just have a little more color in them than you've got now. Not that white and navy isn't a lovely combination. It's just a little blah. Not as blah as white and beige, but blah all the same. Oh, and I was thinking of repainting Gregory's room so that it looked like it was under the sea, you know, since he likes the aquarium so much and all."

"Hang on," Elijah said. "So what you're telling me is that you want to do some redecorating?"

"Yeah," Selina said. "But I thought I would run it by you since this is _our_ house and not my house or your house, although from the looks of things, you'd never guess _I_ lived here at all, even though we've been married for a few years now. But I'll change that. I'll do a little painting, get some new furniture, get rid of those ugly stuffed animals-"

"No!" Elijah said. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you redecorate. I have very specific things I want my home to say and right now, they're saying them perfectly."

"And what are they saying?" Selina asked. "'Hello, my name is Elijah and I am the most uptight, _boring_ person on the face of this earth'?"

"Excuse me?" Elijah asked.

"Be upfront with me!" Selina said, getting out of bed and coming up to him so that they were nose to nose. "Why don't you want any of my stuff in your house?"

"It's not that I don't want your things in my house," Elijah said quickly, "It's just that, well-"

"Don't bother explaining," Selina said. "I don't want to hear it."

* * *

><p>"Now, tell me, what is the problem exactly?" Alistair asked as he and Astrid and Elijah walked around Elijah and Selina's house.<p>

"It's Selina!" Elijah said. "She's on a power trip. She wants to redecorate the entire house! _My _space! She says that it's about time." He paused, frowning at a fluffy pink pillow that had appeared in his chair, and the scented candles all over the living room. "See? This is exactly what I'm talking about! And this is just the beginning! What?" He asked Alistair. "Why are you smirking?"

"Why would you say that she's wrong?" He asked. "Because if you asked me, it ceased being your space the second you asked her to move in with you."

Elijah frowned. "I don't follow."

"Well, why did you ask her to move in with you the first time?" Alistair asked him.

"Because she and Lucy were in danger and I wanted them to be safe," Elijah said.

"Are you sure that's the only reason?" Astrid asked. "If so, you would have asked her to go back to her apartment after the danger had passed, but you didn't. Why?"

"Because I'd gotten used to having her around," Elijah said. "It was nice to be with someone at breakfast in the morning."

"You loved her by then," Alistair said. "That's right, isn't it? And you need her. Admit it." When Elijah still looked clueless, Alistair said, "Come back to your room for a moment."

They went back to Elijah and Selina's room where a multi-colored, crocheted blanket spread over Elijah's navy blue comforter. "You see this?" Alistair asked, picking up a corner.

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "Just the first of many ways Selina's trying to usurp my position in this house."

Alistair gave him a look. "Look at this, and then look at your bed. The blankets are like you and her. You're the comforter. Solid, warm, but kind of severe. Selina is the quilt. She adds color to your life just like the quilt is adding personality to your bed. You'll be glad if you let her do the same with the rest of the house."

Astrid smirked. "Yes, I mean come on! The color scheme on your bed is navy blue and white. The only way it could have been more blah is if you would have gone with a beige comforter instead of a blue one."

"Stop saying that!" Elijah said testily. "That's exactly what _she_ said!"

"Why do you have such a problem admitting that she has a point?" Alistair asked. "I mean, you like having _her_ around. Her things are an extension of her."

"Yes, but her things are garishly colored, fluffy, sparkly, or inflated. You saw that pillow. Didn't it look weird in the living room?"

"Perhaps it did," Alistair nodded. "But maybe if you brought more things into the living room that fit with, it wouldn't look so out of place."

"No," Elijah shook his head. "I will _not_ put anything in my living room to match a fluffy pink pillow! That will just suck all the dignity out of my decor!"

"Well, then _talk_ with her!" Alistair said. "Lay ground rules about how you want the place to look and hopefully, you'll end up with something you can both enjoy. You're getting to be as stubborn as your brother. Am I going to have to explain how to have a relationship to you like you and I did to him?"

"No," Elijah said sourly. "I'm fine, thank you."

They left the bedroom and went into the living room, where they found Selina sitting in Elijah's special chair, reading a book, her legs dangling over the armrest.

"What are you doing?" Elijah asked. "This is my chair. Get out and go sit somewhere else!"

Selina looked up at him. "Well, excuse me, your highness. I didn't see you sitting here, so I thought you wouldn't mind. Besides, me and this chair have a history. It was the chair I was sitting in when my water broke and I went into labor with Gregory."

"What?" Elijah burst out, his face red, a vein in his temple throbbing. "You mean to tell me that you were sitting in this chair, when-ugh!" He shuddered. "How disgusting. I'll have to send the cushion to the dry cleaners'."

"Well, pardon me for going into a somewhat painful labor and giving birth to your son." Selina said without looking up. "It won't happen again. And just so you know, I told Anna and she dried it off afterwards. You wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't told you."

"Yes, well-I'm going to go out," Elijah told her. "I need some air." He left and Selina looked up at Alistair and Astrid. "Piece of work, isn't he?" She asked.

Alistair nodded. "I thought that you and Klaus were problematic at times, but you mostly agreed on the little things."

Selina sighed. "I wouldn't say Elijah and I are problematic. He secretly loves when I do stuff like this. It's what keeps him alive." She took the pillow off the chair. "I think I'll go put this pillow back in my extra room." She looked at Astrid. "Would you say you have an eye for decoration?"

"Sure," Astrid said. "Why?"

"I just wondered if you could show me what Gregory's room might look like if I made it look like it was under the sea. Figuratively, like with paint and lights and stuff. Not submerged in water."

"Oh, how interesting!" Astrid said. "I'd love to give that a try."

"You want to come, Alistair?" Selina asked.

Just then, Alistair's phone rang. He answered it and listened to the other person at the end of the line and then hung up. "As much as I would love to," he said, "I need to head over to Klaus'. Apparently, a dinner that he had yesterday didn't go as well as he'd hoped and he wants me to do damage control."

"Well, good luck!" Selina said. "If anyone's good at that, it's you."

Alistair nodded. "Well, thank you. Living amongst all of you, it seems to be an almost daily task." And with that, he kissed Astrid goodbye and headed for Klaus'.


	46. Fearless

"All right, I'm here," Alistair said when he arrived at Klaus'. "What exactly happened again?'

"It seemed like a good idea when I came up with it a few days ago," Klaus said. "Caroline and I have decided to make things more official than they were and I thought that since that was the case, it would be best to have a dinner where Caroline and Roxanne were in the same room. It seemed like a good way to give them an opportunity to bond, but, surprise, surprise, it didn't work."

Alistair looked around. "At least the house is all in one piece," he said. "You have to consider that a victory."

Klaus scoffed. "Yes, but that's the _only_ one! Everything else just fell apart."

"Well, it shouldn't surprise you that Roxanne misbehaved," Alistair said. "Based on her behavior in the past, I should think you would know by now that Roxanne misbehaving at a party is inevitable."

"But that's just the thing!" Klaus said. "Roxanne _didn't_ misbehave. She was very civil. It was Caroline who made a complete and utter fool of herself."

"But why would she do that?" Alistair asked. "I thought she seemed like a nice woman."

Klaus nodded. "She's incredibly sane most of the time, but there's something about Roxanne that makes her ill at ease. She has made it quite clear that she much prefers Lucy's company."

"I'm sure if they all met Roxanne and Lucy, the general population would feel as Caroline does," Alistair said. "So you and Caroline and Roxie were at this dinner when Caroline began acting out."

"Selina and Elijah were there too," Klaus said. "Roxanne invited Selina to come."

"Did she?" Alistair asked. "How curious. I thought the two of them didn't get along."

"They don't, at least not that I know of," Klaus said. "Maybe Roxie was desperate."

"Where's Caroline now?" Alistair asked. "Is she here?"

Klaus shook his head. "Lucy called this morning and she and Caroline went out."

"Well think of it this way," Alistair said. "If Roxanne was willing to be civil at this dinner you had with Caroline, it could mean she's turning herself around. This could be a new beginning for the two of you."

"I'd like that," Klaus said. "Things really haven't been good between us since she left when she was six. I still don't understand why she did that."

"Maybe she'd explain it to you," Alistair said. "All you have to do is ask." He paused. "But that's easier said than done between the two of you, isn't it?"

"Yes," Klaus said morosely. "It is."

"Why is that?" Alistair said. "Why is it so hard for the two of you to sit down and have a conversation with each other?"

"Because she doesn't want to talk to me," Klaus said. "That Vince is all she cares about. He's why she left for ten years and I didn't hear a peep out of her."

"I thought you liked him," Alistair said. "You turned him into a hybrid and everything. And he was more than willing to submit to it. That's what you've always told me."

"I pretend to like him," Klaus said. "I thought that if I made it seem like I liked him, then Roxanne would like me too. Do you understand that?"

"It makes sense," Alistair nodded. "I take it that things aren't going like you planned?"

Klaus shook his head. "She still lives far away. With him. Never calls, hardly ever visits. So I devote my time to Lucy instead, and that just makes Roxie angrier. It's like I can't do anything right."

"Just try and talk to her sometime," Alistair said. "It's possible that she feels the same way you do and just can't bring herself to tell you."

Klaus sighed. "I don't know," he said. "She's grown up now. What would she need _me _for?"

* * *

><p>Vince came in from the backyard and found Roxie curled up in a ball on the sofa, the phone clutched tightly in her right hand. Her eyes were wet and puffy and her face was red. "What's the matter?" He asked her.<p>

"Charlie just called," she said. "She told me that she and Tony are moving away!"

Vince nodded. "Yep. Charlie's dad needs her so they're moving. Tony asked me to help him get their stuff to their other place."

"How long have you known about this?" Roxie asked him. "And why didn't you tell me?"

"Because Charlie asked me not to," Vince said gently. "She thought it would be best if she told you herself."

Roxie sniffled and slammed the phone down. "Well, I can't believe how selfish those two are! When they thought up this plan to move, did they think at all about how it would affect us? With them gone, we have no other friends!"

"I have lots of friends," Vince said. "It's you who doesn't have any other friends."

"Well, it's not my fault that I have standards and most other people are stupid," Roxie said. "I could get more friends if I want to. I don't need Tony and Charlie to have a fun and interesting life!"

"Well, what are you going to do instead?" Vince asked her. "Or should I even ask?"

"Oh, shut up!" Roxie said. "All I need is to go down to the mall or somewhere like that and I bet I could find hundreds of people who want to be my friend."

"It doesn't count if you compel them," Vince said. "That's not a real relationship."

"If you don't mind, I think I _know_ how to have a real relationship," Roxie said to him. "I'm with you, aren't I?"

"True," Vince said. "Take the knowledge you have about getting along with me and use it to meet other people."

"Would you come with me?" She asked.

He sucked in a breath. "I'm busy the next couple of days," he said. "I have my friend Brian's bachelor party and then his wedding. I'm best man."

"What?" Roxie asked. "You didn't tell me that you were gonna be part of a wedding! Do you get to have a plus one?"

"Yeah," Vince said. "But I think I'll just go by myself. That would be best."

"Why?" Roxie said. "I'm here and I don't have anything better to do. Are you ashamed of me? Is that why you don't want me to come?"

"No, that's not it," Vince said. "It's just that the group of friends who are gonna be at this wedding, they aren't from Enid's. They're normal, human people and you don't play well with others."

"I might be able to if you give me a chance," Roxie said testily.

Vince shook his head. "I don't think so, sweetie. But I'll tell you what: I'll arrange a get-together with a small group of them after Brian and Jeannie get back from their honeymoon and you can meet them then. Is that a good compromise?"

"No!" Roxie said. "I want to go to the wedding!"

"Well, too bad!" Vince said. "I'm not gonna take you. You'll have to find some way to entertain yourself while I'm gone. You're a smart girl. I bet you can do it."

He walked off and Roxie began looking around the house for Vince's invitation to his friend's wedding. It had to be around here somewhere.

She finally found it hidden at the bottom of a basket of important papers near the phone.

_Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Finch invite you to share in the joy of the marriage of their daughter Jeannie Rose Finch to Mr. Brian Murphy on Saturday, the eleventh of November at two in the afternoon..._

Roxie made note of the name of the church and the date and time of the wedding and put the paper back where she'd found it. She'd go to that wedding, whether Vince wanted her to or not.

The day of the wedding, Vince left early after Roxie did up his tux and made him look suave, comfortable in the knowledge that Roxie would find some way to entertain himself and he'd be able to celebrate his friend's wedding without incident.

An hour or so later, once she was sure the wedding was over, she put on her nicest dress, got in the car, and drove to the reception hall. She parked in a handicapped parking space and ran up the front steps of the building, where she was stopped by two ushers dressed in black pants with gray stripes down the sides and red jackets. "Who are you?" one of them asked. "We didn't see you at the wedding."

"I'm the plus one of the best man," she said, locking eyes with both the ushers. "I came later because it took me longer to get ready. May I go in, please?"

"Sure," said one with a buzz cut. "Go on in."

"Thank you," Roxie said with a satisfied smile. She walked in and strode over to a woman standing in the hallway, directing traffic. "Excuse me," she said. "Could you tell me where the Finch/Murphy reception is being held, please?"

The woman gave her a motherly grin and pointed her in the direction of one of the bigger ballrooms. She slipped inside and took a seat at a table just inside the door. She people-watched for awhile before someone joined her.

"Well, hello, there!" He said. He had olive skin, curly hair and was on the heavy side. "What's a pretty thing like you doing here by yourself?"

"I'm not by myself," she said. "I have a date. The best man, Vince. We live together."

"I think Vince would have mentioned it if he had such a pretty girlfriend," the man said. He got closer to her. He smelled like cheap beer and Juicy Fruit and it made Roxie gag. "My name's Sid," he said. "What's yours, Pretty Lady?"

"My name is Not Interested," Roxie said and shoved Sid away. He was a bit drunk and staggered back, hitting his head on the table. He then fell to the ground, a trail of blood on the leg of the table.

Roxie looked down. He wasn't moving. "Sid?" Roxie got down on her knees and shook him. "Sid? Sid, you have to wake up!" As she shook him, his head hit the table again. Roxie checked his pulse. He was dead. Whistling to herself, she got up, shoved him under the table with her foot and walked away, toward the table where Vince was chatting with the bride and groom.

"There you are, honey!" she said, running over to him. "I'm here!" She looked at Jeannie and Brian, who seemed shocked at her sudden appearance.

"Vince," Brian said, pushing his blond hair out of his eyes. "Who is this?"

"She's no one," Vince said. "You know, there's a place that's full of call girls next door. Maybe she wandered over here."

"Hey!" Roxie said angrily. "That's not very nice!" She slapped Vince up the back of his head and grabbed the bride's hand. "Hi," she said. " You must be Jeannie. My name is Roxie. I'm not a whore, I swear. I live with Vince. He's my boyfriend. He didn't want me to come and meet you for some reason I can't figure out for the life of me, but I decided to come anyway. I thought it would be a nice surprise. Congratulations on your wedding."

"Thank you," Jeannie said, still looking confused. "It's nice to meet you, Roxie."

Roxie then let go of Jeannie's hand. "It's nice to meet both of you. Vince, honey, would you help me get a drink?" She grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her. They went off to a corner and Roxie hit Vince again. "Why the hell did you tell them I was a hooker?" Roxie asked.

"You surprised me!" Vince said. "I didn't know you were gonna show up! You said you wouldn't!"

"I said I wouldn't show up at the _wedding_," Roxie said to him. "Is this the wedding? No. I kept my word. Now take me back there and tell the bride and groom who I really am!"

"You just did!" Vince said. "And I think you still made them nervous."

Roxie looked around the reception hall. Couples were dancing in a corner to a trio of violins, but other than that, nothing was really going on. "Oh, come on!" Roxie said. "I thought this was supposed to be a party!" She went and tasted the punch (Which was just Sprite with sherbert in it) and added half a bottle of vodka from a bottle she had in her purse.

"What are you doing?" Vince asked. "Neither Brian nor Jeannie are drinkers! Her father is a minister for crying out loud!"

"Well, that's no excuse," Roxie said. "Things need to be livened up around here and I'm just the person to do it."

Just then, and older woman in a black dress and pearls and leaning on a cane approached the puch bowl. "Can I get you some punch?" Roxie asked the woman.

She nodded. "Thank you, dear," she said. Roxie poured her some of the spiked punch and as Vince watched helplessly, she took a drink.

"This punch has an unusual taste to it," she said. "I like it."

"Well, thank you," Roxie said. "It has a secret ingridient that I'm not allowed to tell you. Go tell everyone else. There's enough here for everyone to come back for seconds or thirds."

"What?" Vince asked as the older lady shuffled away. "Roxie, are you trying to get everyone drunk?"

"You got me," Roxie said. "That's exactly what I'm trying to do. That lady looked like she enjoyed it and she's probably gonna drop dead any minute. Do you _really_ want to deprive her of something that makes her happy?"

"Well, no," Vince said. "I guess not."

Just then, Brian came over to them. "Vince, have you seen Sid? My mother is looking for him."

Roxie pointed out the hallway. "I think I saw him go that way." While Brian ran out of the room to look for Sid, Roxie said to Vince: "I have a secret. Do you really wanna see where Sid is?"

Vince felt himself go cold. "Show me," he told her.

Roxie led him to the table and picked up the edge of the table cloth. "He's under there," Roxie said. "And I think he's dead."

"How could he be dead?" Vince asked. "Roxie!"

"I was just defending myself," Roxie said. "He was drunk _without_ my help and he was hitting on me, so I pushed him away, and he fell and hit his head. I didn't mean to kill him. It just happened."

Vince looked toward the punch bowl where people were lining up to get cups of the liquid and some did come back repeatedly. Soon, people were stumbling around and falling down and at one point, two men got into a fight and one shoved the other's head into the punch bowl until he drowned.

"This isn't going well at all," Vince said. "A person should be able to go to a wedding without worrying whether or not there's gonna be a body count!" He frowned at Roxie. "This is all your fault!" he said. "If you hadn't spiked the punch, none of this would have happened! The people in this family are either all teetotalers or recovering alcoholics, the sort who would kill for even the taste of a_ drop _of alcohol."

"You could have told me that before I spiked the punch," Roxie said. "The shame is on you, my friend."

"Of course it is!" Vince said. "It's always somebody else's fault when _you_ do something wrong. You always do what Roxie wants to do and you don't _listen_!"

Jeannie said, "Maybe if we start the games now, it will distract people from the alcohol. Let's start with hide and go seek."

"Good idea!" Roxie said. She gave Vince a look. "Wanna hide with me?"

Vince looked at her sourly. "No!" Just then, he looked on in horror as Jeannie's mother stood on the punch table and began stripping off her clothes. "Oh, for the love of god," he said.

Roxie eyed the woman critically. "It's funny you said I was a stripper earlier," she said. "Because Jeannie's mom looks like she's had a bit of experience." The woman was now wiggling and gyrating in a salacious manner while her husband tried to talk her down.

"That's not what I said," Vince told her curtly. "You've caused enough damage here. Go home while I do damage control."

"Fine," Roxie said. "But first-" She ran into the melee, tearing throats and drinking to her heart's content. Once she was full, she came back. "I hate to miss a good party," she said. "But I think you're right. Now it's time for me to go."

* * *

><p>Footage of the reception was on the news that night. At one point, the hall had caught on fire, and by the time the fire department had managed to put out the flames and the ambulance had arrived, twelve people were dead and twenty more were wounded.<p>

"They say your wedding day should be the most memorable day of your life," Vince said. He was drinking from his third beer bottle that was nearly empty. "I have a feeling Brian and Jeannie will have a tough time forgetting this."

"I would say a good time was had by all," Roxie said.

"People _died_," Vince said.

"Well, yes," Roxie nodded. "They did. "But at least they died drunk and happy. That's how I would like to go. If I wasn't practically indestructible, I mean."

"Is that so?" Vince asked. "Because I was thinking that you'd go an entirely different way!"

"Look," Roxie said. "I know you're mad at me, but can we just talk about this?"

"What's there to talk about?" Vince asked. "All I wanted was for my friends to have a nice wedding. You showed up and you wrecked it after you specifically promised that you wouldn't. Roxanne, that upsets me."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just, I wanted to have some _fun_," Roxie said. "Those people were_ boring_!"

"You could have left!" Vince said. "There was no law that said you had to stay!"

"I had to if I wanted to be with you!" She said. "And if I have to make a choice of being alone or being with you, I'm always gonna pick you."

"Well, lucky me," Vince said sarcastically. "I get to spend the rest of my life with a clingy, codependent bitch who can't make any other friends. Yay."

She slapped him. He started laughing, high, cold and cruel. She slapped him again and again and again, but the laughter just went on and on. Finally, she ran to their bedroom and shut the door, throwing herself on the bed, tears flowing freely from her eyes.

* * *

><p>"You'll like this place," Lucy said to Jason as they walked into a restaurant for lunch. "They have great pizza." He pulled out her chair for her and she sat down, not noticing that Damon was at the bar. He sneakily turned his barstool around to take a look at the two of them, and once the bartender's back was turned, he hopped off his barstool and followed a waiter into the kitchen.<p>

"You see that table over there?" Damon asked him, pointing to the table where Lucy and Jason were sitting. The waiter nodded. "Is it yours?" Damon asked. "Would you serve those people?"

The man nodded, and Damon said sharply, "Give me your shirt!" The red shirt with green writing that said "Willy's Pizza" was the closest thing the restaurant had to a uniform. Damon put the shirt on and then left the kitchen to go stand at Jason and Lucy's table. "Good afternoon," he said. "What can I get the two of you?"

"How about our actual waiter?" Lucy replied. "What did you do to the poor guy?"

"I didn't do anything!" Damon said.

"Right," Lucy said. "So you expect me to believe you took a job here in addition to the one you have watching Lenora?"

"Yeah," Damon said. "Anna insisted."

"I don't believe that. I think you're pulling this stunt to see me," Lucy said. "And it doesn't matter what you do or what you say. I'm still going to Europe."

Lucy looked at Jason. "This isn't our waiter."

Jason nodded. "Yeah, I know it's not. But do you think he could get us breadsticks and drinks anyway? I'll have a Pepsi," he said to Damon. "And You want an iced tea, Lucy?"

Lucy nodded. "All right," she said. "I suuppose."

"Sure," Damon said. "I'll be back in a minute." Lucy watched Damon go and get Jason a soda, and then saw him spit in it when he didn't think anyone was looking. Then he came back and plunked it down in front of Jason. "There you go," he said, his grin wide. "Drink up!"

Lucy put a hand on Jason's wrist. "I wouldn't," she said. "Just trust me."

Jason slowly pulled his hand away. "I don't think I'm thirsty," he said.

Lucy picked up Jason's cup. "Get him a new one please, Damon."

"But why?" Damon asked. "That one's fine."

"I saw you spit in it," Lucy said severely. "Get him a new one, please. I think I'll come with you to make sure you do it and don't pull anything else." She followed him to the pop dispenser and dumped what was in Jason's glass and then handed it to Damon and watched as he poured Jason another Pepsi.

"Why are you acting like this?" She asked. "Is it because of Jason?"

"I'll take Stupid Questions for five-hundred, Alex," Damon told her flatly. "I hate him. He's a dork."

"I don't care what you think," Lucy said. "You're not the one who hangs out with him.

"Are you sleeping with him?" Damon asked. "Have you seen him naked? Is he bigger than me?"

Lucy looked around. "Keep your voice down, would you?"

"Answer my questions," Damon said.

"None of your business, none of your business and none of your business!"

"So he _is_ bigger than me!" Damon said, quieter this time.

"Do you know how desperate and stupid you sound right now?" Lucy asked.

"I know you are, but what am I?" Damon shot back. Lucy rolled her eyes, grabbed Jason's pop and walked away.

"Here you are," she said to him. "Sorry about the wait. This place is having problems with their help, apparently."

Jason took a swig of his Pepsi. "Are you gonna come over tonight? You told me you would if you weren't busy with your pictures."

Lucy gasped. "It's a full moon, isn't it?"

Jason nodded. "It would really make everything easier for me if you were there."

"Does it hurt you to change?" Lucy asked quietly.

"Yeah," he said. "It's been a few times now, so not as much as when it first happened, but it's no walk in the park."

Damon came back again. "Did you want something to eat?"

"If we get a medium pepperoni, will you go away?" Lucy asked.

Damon nodded. "For the moment." He turned away and then scampered back to the table to sit next to Lucy. "So, what are the two of you doing tonight? Something special?"

Lucy sighed. "Just doing stuff."

"That's all you're gonna give me?" He asked.

Lucy nodded. "It's more than you deserve."

They went to a movie and then the grocery store because Lucy promised to cook Jason something before his transformation, but were stuck there when a robber came and held up the cashier for up to an hour and a half. When the police finally let everyone in the store leave, it was much later than either Lucy or Jason would have preferred.

"We'll be all right," Jason said as they walked away. "If we run, we should be all right.

But he was wrong. Halfway through the park, the moon shone brightly overhead and Lucy watched in horror as Vince began to convulse and change, his body twitching, his bones cracking. Pretty soon, Lucy found herself face to face with a full grown, growling, drooling wolf with yellow eyes and sharp fangs. He spotted her and began advancing. Lucy let out a shriek and ran. "Help!" She cried. "Somebody help me, please!" But since it was so late at night, no one was around to hear her. Finally, he got her up against a tree, his jaws snapping. Lucy closed her eyes and waited for the bite, as Jason's hot breath tickled her cheek. But at the last minute, all she felt was cool air. She opened her eyes and saw that something had pulled Jason off her. She took a deep breath and tried focus. Finally, in the moonlight, she saw Jason tussling with someone. They went back and forth until Jason sunk his teeth into the man's arm. The man dropped like a bird shot out of the sky. Lucy finally had enough presence of mind to grab a large, thick branch from under the tree and hit the wolf on the head with a sickening crack. The wolf fell and finally, Lucy was able to get close enough to see the face of her rescuer.

"Damon," she whispered. "Damon, oh, my god. Why the hell did you-?"

"He was gonna hurt you," Damon said weakly, his voice slurring. "And I can't let that happen. If you're hurt, you won't get to go to Europe and you want to so bad."

Lucy got down on her knees and cradled him. "You're drunk," she said.

He nodded, his eyes only open a sliver. "You know it."

"What about your arm?" Lucy asked. "Where he bit you? We have to get you to a doctor! Or is this just something you can heal from?"

"No," he said. "I can't. Werewolf bites-" He groaned painfully. "Werewolf bites kill vampires."

"_What_?" Lucy asked, so shocked she nearly dropped him. "Are you saying you threw your life away for _me_? Why did you do that? I'm not worth it!" She paused and took a deep breath. "No, we can't think that way. There has to be a way to save you." She stood up. "Can you walk?"

Damon got up slowly, his body wracked with pain. "Here, lean on me," Lucy said.

"What about Jason?" Damon asked.

She looked down at the wolf. "He'll live. You're more important now."

Leaning on each other, they made their way across the city. "How did you find me?" Lucy asked. "I didn't tell you where Jason and I were gonna be."

"Pure dumb luck," Damon said. "I stayed at this bar called The Sunset Strip until last call and then I walked home on my usual route that cut through the park and there you were."

They reached Alistair's and Astrid let them in. "Can we see Alistair?" Lucy asked her. "This is an emergency. Please tell me he's here!"

"What is it, Lucy?" Alistair asked, his eyes full of concern. "What's happened? Are you hurt?"

"No," Lucy shook her head. She helped Damon to a sofa and he slowly sat down. "Damon's been bitten by a werewolf. He's gonna die, isn't he?"

Alistair examined Damon's arm. "Usually, the answer would be yes. There is a way to save him, though."

"What is it?" Lucy said eagerly. "Whatever it is, I'll do!"

"Even tell your father?" Alistair asked. "His blood alone can cure a werewolf bite."

Lucy felt her heart sink. "That's the _only_ way?"

Alistair nodded. "Yes, my dear. I'm afraid it is."


	47. The Quick and The Dead

Lucy's mouth opened and closed rapidly. "That can't be the only way to save him," she said. "Think of something else!"

"I understand why you're so worried," Alistair said. "Your father can be quite unreasonable when he puts his mind to it, but I'm sure that if you explain Damon was injured in the act of saving your life, he'll be more reasonable."

"You think?" Lucy asked skeptically. "I don't know."

She looked down at Damon, who gave a loud moan. "Please," he said. "Take your time thinking about what to do about me. I have all the time in the world."

Lucy put a hand on his arm and he let out a groan. "I guess I don't have any choice, do I?" She asked. "If I want Damon alive, I have to go see Daddy."

"Yes," Alistair nodded. "But no one said anything about you having to go by yourself. Why don't you take Roxanne with you? As I remember, she's fond of Damon also, and she and your father have a rapport. He might acquiesce to you if Roxanne makes the request."

Lucy sighed. "All right," she said. "I'll ask Roxie if she wants to come, but I doubt she will. She'll probably just laugh in my face and shut the door."

"You'll never know until you try, though." Alistair looked down at Damon. "I would go as quickly as you can. You don't have all the time in the world, you know."

Lucy watched as Alistair helped Damon over to the sofa, then looked at Damon for a long moment and kissed him briefly before running out of the house.

* * *

><p>Roxie heard the knocking on her bedroom door and got off the bed to call out, "Vince, if that's you, I'm not speaking to you."<p>

"I just wanted to tell you Lucy's come by," he said. "She wants to talk to you. She says it's urgent."

Roxie sighed. "Fine." She opened the door and glared at Vince before pushing her way past him and walking to the front door to find herself face to face with her younger sister. "It's late," she said. "What do you want?"

"This is probably gonna sound ridiculous, but I need a favor. Listen to what it is before you get mad and shut me out," Lucy said.

"Well, all right then," Roxie told her. "If it's so important, you have a minute."

"Damon's been bitten by a werewolf," Lucy said quickly. "It happened while he was trying to save my life. I'm afraid he's going to die!"

"_What_?" Roxie asked. "You let him get bitten? Why couldn't you have just taken the bullet?"

"Well, I don't know!" Lucy yelled. "It was either him or me. It's great to see you have so much love for me."

"A werewolf bite wouldn't have killed you," Roxie said testily. "At least not forever. You would have died, but two or three days later, you would have woken up as a human. Your inactive werewolf gene would have saved you from the permanent effects of the bite. Do you know _anything_ about your werewolf side?"

"Not really," Lucy said, feeling herself blush. "Mom and Uncle Elijah never really talked about it."

Roxie rolled her eyes. "This is just pathetic!" She said. "Don't you realize whose daughter you are?"

Lucy nodded. "And speaking of him, that's why I need the favor. I took Damon to Alistair's after he got bitten and Alistair said there's a way to save Damon from the bite, but it requires getting Dad's blood. Now, given recent events, I doubt Dad would just hand his blood over to me to save Damon if I went by myself and asked for it, but I figured if you came with me, he'd be more likely to say 'yes', seeing as how you and he have such a good relationship and all."

Roxie scoffed. "What good relationship? We haven't sat down and had a decent conversation in like a million years."

Lucy began pushing Roxie toward the door. "Well, I think that with Damon's existence on the line, now is as good a time as any to break that pattern, don't you?"

"I'm going out, Vince!" Roxie called. "Take the time while I'm gone to practice groveling And I expect an apology by the time I get back."

* * *

><p>Caroline woke up with a start as she heard the glass in some of the downstairs windows break. "Someone's downstairs!" She whispered urgently. "Want me to go take care of it?"<p>

When Klaus didn't wake up, Caroline let out a groan, threw the covers aside and negotiated her way through the darkness and down the stairs that led to the ground level of the house. She saw two dark shapes by the door. They were both small and slim. Baring her teeth, she ran at them, pushing the smaller of the two to the ground. They tussled for a short while until the other figure grabbed Caroline by her hair and sank fangs into her neck. Baring her nails, Caroline began scratching at the person who was holding her down until the figure underneath her squirmed away, got up and reached the light switch. Light blossomed in the room and she found herself face to face with a tired, bloody Lucy and Roxie.

"Oh, my god!" Caroline panted. "If it was just the two of you, why didn't you come in through the door?"

"The door was stuck," Lucy said."Then we pulled the knob out. After that, Roxie thought the window would be quicker. We're sorry that we frightened you."

"I'm not," Roxie said, her chin out.

"All right," Lucy said, "_I'm_ sorry if we frightened you."

"Why don't we all sit down?" Caroline suggested. "And you can tell me why you're here at this time of the night."

"We need to talk to Daddy," Lucy said. "Is he up?"

"Now I am," Klaus said as he appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "It's impossible for a person to sleep with all the racket the three of you were making down here." He looked grumpy.

"You don't sound happy to see us, Daddy," Roxie said. "Couldn't you sound the least bit happy to see us?"

"Well, it depends on why you came," Klaus said. "Why did you come now? Why couldn't it have waited until morning?"

"Lucy's loverboy is on the brink of death," Roxie said. "He got himself bitten by a werewolf saving her life and now she wants you to give her some of your blood so she can feed it to him, he won't die, and the two of them can live happily ever after."

Klaus stared at Lucy for a moment. "No," he said simply. "Absolutely not. Now that that's settled, we can all go back to bed."

"It is _not_ settled!" Lucy said angrily, running over to block the stairway. "I do not accept that answer!"

"Move," Klaus said. "Lucy, I am really too tired to deal with this right now."

"It's not hard," Lucy said. "Just give me enough blood to save Damon, then we'll leave and you can go back to sleep. It's your stubbornness that's drawing this out and making it much harder than it needs to be."

"I don't see why I should have to save you from your own mistake," Klaus said. "If you had just let the werewolf bite you, then Damon wouldn't have had to die. Look on this as a learning experience."

He picked her up and carried her over to the sofa, locking eyes with Roxie. "Roxanne, would you restrain your sister until I've made it safely to my bed?"

Roxie nodded. "Of course, Daddy," she said, and then as much as sat on Lucy until Klaus and Caroline went back upstairs to their bed, leaving Roxie and Lucy alone in the living room.

"Thank you so much for your help," Lucy said sourly. "I knew that you wouldn't do a thing for me."

"Well, the important thing is that you had the guts to try," Roxie said. "Not many people would have the guts to defy Dad like you did."

"Not even you apparently," Lucy told her. "You took a stand against him when you were six years old. Why can't you do it again to help your sister? Or even to save Damon? I thought you cared about him."

"That stand ruined my relationship with Dad!" Roxie said. "And the only way for me to fix it is to do whatever he says, even if in some weird way I _do_ care about you, and I'm really upset about Damon dying."

"That's just sad!" Lucy told her. "Maybe I _would_ have been better off coming by myself!" And with that, she strode out of the house, leaving Roxie alone on the sofa in the darkened living room.

* * *

><p>"Selina!" Elijah said as he came into the dining room, which was covered ceiling to floor with party decorations, "What are you doing to poor Gregory? He looks absolutely ridiculous!"<p>

Selina looked down at Gregory, whose little head was almost completely covered by his brightly colored party hat. "He does not look ridiculous!" Selina said. "He looks like he's having a party!" She looked him over. "And I think it's you who looks ridiculous," she said. "Who comes to a party in a three-piece suit?"

"I do!" Elijah said. He sat down next to Gregory's high chair and Selina stuck a hat on his head. "There!" She said. "Now you fit in and are festive like the rest of us. Put Gregory in your lap so I can take a picture of him and you on his first birthday."

"I will not!" Elijah said. "I refuse to not only look like a fool, but to have it documented for posterity!"

Selina snapped a picture and it made him start. "What's that for?" He asked. Selina surveyed the photo. "Why don't you smile this time?" She suggested. "Your mother wants pictures and I think she wants them happy."

Elijah just looked at her stonily. "The sooner you smile the sooner you can take the hat off," Selina told him. He grinned painfully at the camera and Selina snapped the picture of him and Gregory. "There," she said. "Was that so bad?"

Elijah took off his hat and tried to take off Gregory's too, but was met with a shriek of protest. "See?" Selina said. "Unlike you, your son appreciates a little festivity on his special day."  
>"I appreciate festivity!" Elijah said. "But there is a difference between classy festivity and what we've got going on here."<p>

Selina narrowed her eyes. "Well, when it's your birthday, I promise to make the place look classy, okay?"

"When it is _my_birthday," Elijah told her firmly, "we are sending Gregory to my mother's and you and I are going to spend the whole day in bed. No frills, no decorations, nothing silly like that."

Selina grinned, went into the kitchen and came out clutching a white frosted cake with a blue candle on it shaped like a one. "You mean you won't even want cake?" She asked.

"Well, maybe," Elijah said huffily. He watched as Selina sat the small cake down in front of Gregory and asked Elijah to get the lighter. "We have to light the candle," she said.

"Why?" Elijah asked. "He's not going to be able to blow it out. I don't understand why you insist on going through all this when he's so young!"

"Because it's fun!" Selina said. "What other reason would there possibly be?"

"You've lost your mind!" Elijah said. But he went and got the lighter anyway. Just as they were on the way to lighting the candle, however, the door opened and Klaus called out, "You would not believe what happened to me this morning!"

Elijah almost lost his grip on the lighter and Selina put a hand on his shoulder. "You stay here," she said. "I'll go see what brought your brother to our house."

Elijah nodded and Selina scampered away. "What's happened, Nicky?" She asked. "Is there anything that needs to be done about it, or have you just come to gripe?"

"You could do something about it," Klaus said. "But first I have to tell you what it is. Our daughters had the gall to show up at my house early this morning and demand that I give them blood to give to Damon to save his life! Can you believe their nerve?"

"Well, why did Damon's life need saving?" Selina asked. "It must have been something urgent for them to come to see you so early."

Klaus nodded. "Apparently, Lucy had a run-in with a werewolf and Damon thought it would bite her, so he put himself in harm's way and got bitten white she came out of it with nothing but a bad fright and some bumps and bruises."

"And you won't give Lucy blood to save his life?" Selina asked, hitting him hard on the shoulder. "You are so petty and childish!"

"You're asking me to save the life of the man who defiled my daughter!" Klaus said. "I won't do it!"

"He might have made a bad decision at one point, but Nicky, he saved her life!" Selina said. "I think that more then makes up for the other thing!"

"It's not saving her life since she wouldn't have died of the wolf bite anyway," Klaus said testily. "I say let him die and Lucy can find another man. She's a pretty girl. Europe is full of available men."

"Nothing I can say will change your mind about this, will it?" Selina asked.

"No," Klaus said. "I stand firm. Lucy needs to learn about disappointment."

Selina sighed. "Do what you think is best, but for the record, I think you're wrong, and if you go through with this, you're going to drive Lucy away just like you drove Roxanne away when you tried to hurt Vince. That was what wrecked your relationship with her. Do you want to risk that happening again with your other daughter?"

Klaus sighed. "Well, no, but-"

"Why can't you tolerate Damon the way you tolerate Vince?" Selina pressed. "I know you were mad at Vince when you found out that he and Roxie were sleeping together. I know for a fact that you beat him to a pulp, or at least had your goons do it for you. But you got over your anger after that, or at least covered it up well enough that you and Vince are close now. Extend Damon the same courtesy, please."

"Fine," Klaus said. "I'll give him a trial period. But if he so much as looks as me wrong-"

"Want some cake?" Selina interrupted him. "I made some for Gregory's birthday. It's in the kitchen."

"What kind is it?" Klaus asked, distracted for a moment. "Is it chocolate?"

Selina shook her head. "White. But I have leftover brownies too, if you'd rather have those instead."

"Okay," Klaus nodded. "I'll have a couple of brownies."

"And then you'll go back to wherever Damon is and give him your blood," Selina said. "No blood, no brownies."

"I want payment up front," Klaus said.

"I do too," Selina replied. They headed into the kitchen and she handed him a knife and a small circular plastic container. "Go into the bathroom and fill that up. Show it to me and then you'll get your brownies."

"You drive a very hard bargain," Klaus said testily. But he took the things she offered and went into the bathroom, coming back a few minutes later with a stained knife and a container full of his blood. "There you go," he said, shaking it at her. "Are you happy?"

She nodded. "Ecstatic. Here are your brownies." She handed him a plate with two of them and he sat down next to Gregory, who had stuck his face in the cake and now his face and hair were covered with white frosting. "It looks like someone is enjoying themselves," he said. Then he saw Elijah. "And it looks like someone else isn't. What's the matter, Brother? Not in the partying mood?"

"He considers my enthusiasm tacky," Selina said. She nodded toward the living room, which they could clearly see from the dinining room table. It looked different now, dotted with candles and the wall was covered in sunny yellow paint that clashed magnificently with a recliner that seemed to be covered in raspberry corduroy, across the room from Elijah's own black leather chair, which now had a sign next to it covered in the words **His Highness's Throne** with an arrow pointing toward the chair. "And I think he's still resentful about some of the choices I made when I redecorated the living room."

"What's with the sign?" Klaus asked, trying not to laugh.

"Oh, that?" Selina asked. "Well, it upsets him when I sit there. He thinks I do it on purpose just to irritate him, so to show him what a good sport I can be, I made a little reminder for myself that it's _his_ chair and no one else should sit there."

"Ah," Klaus nodded. "I see."

After he finished his brownies, Klaus got up and patted Gregory on the head. "I should probably be going now," he said.

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "That would be best. I don't know how much time Damon has left."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, yes," he said dismissively. "I have to pick something up at the house and then I'll go."

"You better," Selina said. "Do I have to come with you and make sure you do it?"

Klaus smirked. "Uh-oh, Elijah. It looks to me like you have some competition."

"No, he doesn't!" Selina said. She looked at Elijah. "No you don't. I swear."

"I wasn't listening to a word he said," Elijah told her.

"_And_ you're going now," Selina said to Klaus. "I'll walk out to your car with you. It's a shame you couldn't stay longer."

"Actually, I can," Klaus said. "I'm really in no rush-"

"_Go_," Selina said. When they reached his car, she practically shoved him in and then turned the ignition on, watching him disappear down the street and hoping he would get to Damon in time.

* * *

><p>"Are you all right?" Lucy asked Damon. "Can I get you anything?"<p>

Damon coughed and blood spurted out of his mouth. "Sorry," he said.

"It's all right," Lucy said, wiping it off. "It's not your fault."

Damon groand, squirming uncomfortably on Alistair and Astrid's bed. "Do you really think your father will bring the blood?" He asked.

"He better," Lucy said. "Otherwise he'll lose me the same way he lost Roxie years ago. If I have to pick between him and you, it's no contest which way I'm gonna go."

Damon tried to grin. "Well, aren't you sweet?" He asked, reaching up to move some hair out of her eyes.

"Tell me something," Lucy said, crawling into bed next to him. "Did you know that I wouldn't die from my werewolf bite?" She asked. "And if so, why did you save me?"

"Because I'm selfish," Damon said, struggling to sit up. "I would rather you watch me suffer and struggle with survivor's guilt than let nature take its course."

"So you did know," Lucy said. "How?"

"Years and years ago, when your mother and I were still married, her cousin came to visit her," Damon began. "This cousin was named Mason Lockwood."

"He's related to Uncle Jacob, isn't he?" Lucy said knowingly.

"Yes, Damon nodded. "Jacob had a younger brother named Charles, whose second son Michael had a whole mess of descendants. Mason was one of them. Anyway, Mason was the first Lockwood since Jacob who really knew a lot about the werewolf curse and he got it in his head that he didn't like me, and didn't like Selina with me. So he was looking in Jacob's notes one day and he found the information about what happens when a vampire with an uninitiated werewolf gene gets bitten by an active werewolf. He was intrigued by it and decided to try it out on your mother."

"And it worked?" Lucy asked, eyes wide. "Mom became human again?"

Damon nodded. "For a time. But then she got hurt. Very hurt. Mortally wounded by a knife. The doctors told us that they could do surgery but it wouldn't do any good. So we talked it over and your mother decided to turn again." He sucked in a breath. "That was so hard."

"Why?" Lucy asked. "Surely you've turned others. Why was Mom so much more difficult?"

"Help me sit up," Damon said. His eyes were glassy and his skin was covered in sweat. "And get me some blood. Then I'll tell you."

Lucy looked uncertain. "Alistair!" She called finally. "Damon needs some blood!"

Alistair came in with another blood bag and Lucy supported Damon's head while he drank it. When it was empty, she threw it in the trash. "Now," Damon said. "As to why it was so hard to turn your mother. You were born a vampire, so you really don't know the process. Am I right?"

"I kind of have an idea," Lucy said. "You give someone blood, they die, they drink blood, and then they've turned."

"Well, it was the dying step that really freaked me out," Damon said. "I just couldn't bring myself to end your mother's life. Luckily your grandfather was there to help us all. He took care of that step."

"Mom's dad?" Lucy asked. "He killed his own daughter? I know Mom's not particularly close with her parents, but that's just-"

"He didn't do it to be mean," Damon reminded her. "He knew that the only way to keep Selina alive was to make her a vampire again, and in order for that to happen, she had to die. So he shot her through the heart. Just like he did with your grandmother when she turned. Your grandfather is a very strong man."

"I guess," Lucy said. "So even though you knew the bite wouldn't kill me, you did this to yourself so you wouldn't have to kill me to get me to turn back?"

"_If_ you wanted to turn back," Damon said.

Lucy nodded. "I think so. This is the only sort of life I know."

"That's why I did it," Damon said. "Because I don't think I could handle having to kill you."

Lucy put her head on his shoulder. "Well, we don't have to worry about that anymore," she said.

* * *

><p>When Klaus got back to his house, he found Roxie on the living room sofa. "How are you still here?" He asked. "I would have thought you went home last night."<p>

Roxie sighed. "No, I didn't feel like it. You don't mind, do you?"

"No," Klaus said. "Of course not.

Roxie noticed the plastic container in his hand. "That got your blood in it?" She asked.

"Yes," Klaus nodded. "Your mother convinced me. She said that if I let Damon die, things will be just as bad with Lucy as they are with you. And I don't want that."

Roxie turned on the television to the news where shots of a burned wedding chapel flashed repeatedly. "You see that?" She asked. "I did it. Twelve dead and twenty wounded."

"Why?" Klaus asked.

Roxie shrugged. "It just sort of happened. Some human friends of Vince's got married and he didn't want me to come to the wedding for some reason, but I was sneaky and showed up at the reception."

"Were they an interesting couple?" Klaus asked.

Roxie shook her head. "No, not really. They were a bunch of teetotalers and recovering alcholics, so Vince didn't take it too kindly when I spiked the sherbet and Seven Up punch, but in my defense, he didn't tell me about everyone's drinking issues until _after_ I spiked the punch and everyone was stumbling around drunk and beating up on each other. And I sorta accidently killed the groom's brother. I think he was the groom's brother. But he was annoying and trying to hit on me, so what other choice did I have? And after we got back that night, Vince started drinking and he got all mad at me and said some stuff that was not very nice. But I'm gonna forgive him. I mean, I love him and when you love people, you forgive them. Even if they do stupid stuff when they drink like, oh, calling you names, or...trying to kill your best friend." She gave Klaus a significant look. "That's what our problem's been all these years, isn't it? That I abandoned you after you tried to turn Vince?"

"Yes," Klaus nodded. "And I didn't hear a peep out of you even though I sent you dozens of emails and letters. You can't say that I didn't try to contact you and make up. I'd figured you'd moved on."

Roxie sighed. "No, it wasn't that I'd moved on. It was that you'd scared the hell out of me. For god's sake, I was six years old and I saw you kill a whole bunch of people right in front of me! That's traumatizing for a little kid! In that moment, you weren't my dad. You were the boogeyman. You were the monster under the bed. You were in all my nightmares."

"But my letters weren't mean," Klaus said. "My letters were nice!"

"So was the gingerbread house the witch lived in who cooked Hansel and Gretel," Roxie said.

Klaus was stunned. "So you didn't answer my letters because you thought I was trying to trick you?"

"I was little. I thought you'd be mad that I tried to save Vince and eat me the next time you saw me," Roxie said, blushing a little. "It all seems so stupid now. And when I got older and saw you again, you were with Lucy and acting like a normal dad, but since you were giving her all my stuff, I just thought that you'd given up on me and didn't want me anymore."

"It wasn't that I didn't want you anymore," Klaus said. "I only gave Lucy all the attention because she was the only one around to give it to! If you'd have shown up, I would have made some time for you. But instead, you just ran away."

"Okay," Roxie said. "Let me get this straight: all the time I thought you didn't want me around, you did. And all the time you thought I didn't need you anymore, I did?"

Klaus nodded. "Apparently."

"I feel like an idiot," Roxie told him. "Do you?"

Klaus nodded. "Maybe just a bit." He held out his arms and Roxie cautiously hugged him. "See?" He said, running his fingers through her hair. "I'm not gonna eat you. I'll kiss you, but I won't eat you." He kissed her forehead and then let her go.

"I wish Mom was as easy to talk to as you are," she said. "But she and I are just too different."

"I wouldn't say that," Klaus said. "When we get to Alistair's, I'll ask him to send you back to when she and I were together, just to prove it to you."

* * *

><p>Alistair watched in amazement as Klaus and Roxie strolled this his front door, smiling at each other and standing close together. "So I take it the two of you had a nice talk?" He asked.<p>

"Yes," Klaus nodded. "We did. I'm sorry you had to miss it."

"I've had my hands full here," Alistair said. "I'm just glad you two were able to finally clear the air."

"Speaking of what your hands have been full of," Roxie said, "Where is he? He's not dead, right?"

"No," Alistair said. "He's not dead, but I'd hurry."

Roxie took the plastic containter from Klaus. "I'll do this," she said. "It'll be easier that way." She ran into the room where Damon and Lucy were and Lucy jumped off the bed at the sight of her sister and ran toward her, nearly snatching the containter away. "Did you bring a cup?" Lucy asked Roxie. "Where's a cup?"

"It's not that big of a container," Roxie said. "Just have him drink it from there." Roxie went over to Damon now. "I know you've probably seen much better days," she said. "But can you sit up? Do you need my help?"

Damon let out a moan and Roxie carefully helped him sit up. "We got the blood," she said. "You're gonna be okay."

"Good," Damon said. "Was it you who convinced him?"

"No," Roxie shook her head. "It was mainly Mom. But I helped." She opened the container of Klaus' blood and gave it to Lucy, who helped Damon get the blood into his mouth. After he swallowed, Roxie pulled up Damon's sleeve and she and Lucy watched in amazement as the bite, which had been red and inflamed before, slowly disappeared.

"How are you feeling?" Roxie asked when it was gone.

Damon sat up and nodded. "Better."

Roxie looked back and forth between Damon and Lucy and said, "If you want have any celebration sex, remember Dad's right outside. Just something to think about."

"I have to do something really quick," Lucy said. "But I'll be back." She went out into the living room where Klaus sat next to Alistair and give Klaus a hug. "Thank you," she whispered into his shoulder. "Thank you, Daddy."

"You're welcome, sweetheart," Klaus said. "But just to be clear, I don't want to have to do this again."

Lucy nodded. "You won't have to. Don't worry. And when I'm in Europe, I promise to write you about it every week."

"I would expect nothing less," Klaus said. Lucy headed back to Damon and once she was gone, Alistair grinned. "Aww, that was nice."

"Stop looking at me like that!" Klaus said sharply.

Alistair tried to make his expression more serious, but he failed. "Oh, come on!" he said. "Aren't you happy that you didn't screw up your relationship with Lucy the way you screwed it up with Roxie?"

"It wasn't just me," Klaus said. "Where Roxanne was concerned, it was a case of us both not communicating with each other. We did and now things are better."

"But she wouldn't even have gotten it into her head to leave if you hadn't lost your temper and stormed into Enid's that day with murder on your mind," Alistair said. "I told you for years drinking was bad for you and at that moment you went and proved me right."

"Stop acting like my mother," Klaus said through his teeth. "I need you to do something for me. A spell."

"What kind of a spell?" Alistair asked.

"Roxanne belives that communicating with her mother is impossible because the two of them are just too different. I thought that if you sent her back to when Selina and I were together, it would help prove her wrong."

"You're right about that," Alistair said. "You're certainly right about that. Tonight I'll take care of things for you."

* * *

><p>That night, just as Roxie was getting dressed for bed, she heard a knock on the bedroom door. But when she opened it, she found only a vase of roses and an apology note in the hallway.<p>

"Would you forgive me?" Vince asked after she read the note over.

Roxie looked at the pink roses. "I guess," she said. "Since these are pretty."

"I'm glad you don't have friends," Vince said. "Then I get you all to myself." He took her in his arms and kissed her.

"That was nice," she said when she pulled away. "We need to do that more often."

"No problem," he said and carried her into bed, shutting the door behind them.

* * *

><p>Things had been pretty quiet for who knew how long and there was nothing that Mary Anne hated more than that. It made her restless. During one of the late night talk shows, a newsbreak interrupted the regularly scheduled programming. They'd gotten more news about the victims of the wedding massacre from the day before.<p>

"...While many of the victims were burned almost beyond recognition, the burning alone was not cause of death for at least twelve. County medical examiner Todd Phillips found that these twelve victims had no blood in their bodies. Not even one drop. They also had two bite marks on their necks."

"It must have been an animal," the coroner appeared on the screen. "What I believed happened to these people is that they all had a little too much to drink at the wedding and then an animal broke in and they were all too drunk to escape so they were either killed by the animal itself, or burned when the animal knocked down a bunch of candles. My condolences to the families of the victims in their time of grief and loss."

Just after the coroner disappeared, they showed a video of the reception that had been taken before nearly everyone had been killed or wounded. In it, Mary Anne saw something that made her gag. "I should have known _she_ had something to do with this," Mary Anne whispered as film of Roxie appeared on the screen. "She's less careful than her mother, lucky for me." She stood up and yawned. "I'll have to kill her, there's no doubt about that. But it can wait until tomorrow. Now I have to get some sleep."


	48. Who's The Boss?

Elijah woke up early the next morning, showered, dressed and was in his office reading the paper before Selina or Gregory had even woken up. Things were peaceful for about another two hours, then he heard a knock on his office door. "Come in!" He called. Then the door opened and Selina poked her head in. "Are you having a good morning?" She asked. "May I come in? I have something for you."

Elijah put down the book he was reading and nodded. "Of course," he said. "Come in."

She entered, carrying a tray with a cup of coffee and a piece of Gregory's leftover birthday cake on it. "I know you don't usually eat cake for breakfast, just dry toast and coffe, but I figure if we don't eat it right away, it will get wasted."

He managed a small smile for her. "I suppose I could make an exception just this once," he said.

She came around and began rubbing his shoulders. "We should be congratulating ourselves," she said. "Getting Gregory through his first year as well as we did."

Elijah, who had been preparing to eat his cake, put his fork down, lay his head back, shut his eyes and moaned contentedly. "That feels good," he said. "You wouldn't mind going down a little, would you?"

Selina nodded. "Sure."

This went on for a little while longer and once Elijah felt sufficiently loosened up, Selina decided to leave him to eat in peace and go check on Gregory again. "Enjoy your cake," she said, then grinned at him and left the library.

Once she was gone, Elijah looked down at the small square of white cake and saw that Selina had written "I love you" on it in red icing. Warmth began to fill him. He didn't deserve that. He'd been so mean to her, throwing fits about the living room paint and her attempt at throwing Gregory a birthday party, which really hadn't been that unpleasant now that he had time to go over it in his mind.

As he stared at the sentence, it began to expand until his field of vision was completely taken over by the giant red "I love you". Groaning, he grabbed his fork and began stabbing savagely at the words, then when he couldn't make them out anymore, he took a deep breath, sipped some coffee, and ate his cake in peace.

* * *

><p>"I did it!" Selina said, bursting through Gregory's bedroom door. He had been laying on a blanket set out on the floor, handling his blocks. He looked up in alarm at the sound of Selina's voice and then relaxed as she got down next to him and took him in her arms. "I did it, Gregory," she said, holding him against her chest. "Your daddy thinks he's the boss of everything, but I have my ways of working around him. Any minute now, he'll come in here and tell me he's sorry he was mean to me about your birthday party. He'll never admit it, but Mama's the boss and soon he's gonna know that."<p>

Sure enough, Elijah came into the room and looked at Selina, who was giving Gregory a puppet show with one of her socks that she'd taken from her dresser and glued goggly eyes on.

"Selina, we have to talk," he said sharply. "Come with me."

Selina brought the sock down and gave him a knowing look. "I just _knew_ you'd want to 'talk' after you saw that cake. So where do you want to 'talk'? In our bedroom or your office? I'm open to either. Let me finish the third act, first though."

"Mama boss!" Gregory chirped brightly, looking at Elijah with a grin that showed several small pearly white teeth.

"What?" Elijah asked, looking at his son in surprise. "What did you say?"

"Mama boss!" Gregory repeated.

Selina put the sock down on top of the spare bed she was kneeling behind and stood up. "I don't know where he would have heard something like that," she said. "_I_ certainly didn't say anything."

"Did you compel him to say that?" Elijah asked her.

"No!" Selina said. "I would never compel a baby to do anything! I can't believe you'd think I would! Just for that, we will not be doing any 'talking' anywhere!"

"I was actually going to apologize for how I've been acting lately," Elijah said, following her out of Gregory's room.

"Ha!" Selina said. "Accusing me of corrupting our child is a pretty funny way of apologizing." She stopped suddenly and turned, giving Elijah a reproachful look. "Did you enjoy your cake?" She asked. "Or are you going to make me regret giving it to you?"

"Well, _do_ you regret it?" Elijah asked. "No one _forced_ you to bring it to me!"

Selina scoffed. "Well, I can't believe your ego is so fragile that you'd be threatened by something a one-year-old said! But I shouldn't be surprised. This has just been a pattern with you lately: first you get upset about the furniture. I can possibly see give you leeway for that. Then, you get upset about the party. For god's sake, that was for _Gregory's _birthday, not yours! Now, if I had been stupid enough to try something like that for _your_ birthday, then yes, the hissy fit that you threw might have been justified. But I would never do that. I know you too well. Now you're all upset because Gregory repeated something that I said for a joke. I can't take this anymore. You're acting petty and childish and you owe me an apology." She stood in front of him, expression severe, arms crossed, waiting for him to speak.

Elijah watched her stonily but said nothing.

Selina sighed. "Well, I think I'll just go until you're ready to apologize to me," she said. "I think I'll go to Damon's and make sure he's getting around all right. And then maybe I'll have sex with him, since I'm such an immature, despicable person!" She gasped. "Oh, wait, I won't. One of us has to be the mature one here and since you're busy sulking and throwing a tantrum, I guess that job falls to me. See you later...or not." She grabbed her purse, headed out the door, got in the car and headed to Damon's, leaving Elijah to go back into Gregory's room and take him back to his office.

* * *

><p>"Well, look who's up and about! That's nice to see!" Damon straightened up from the trying to get something out of one of the lower cupboards in the kitchen and turned around to see Selina grinning at him.<p>

"Yeah," he said. "Roxie and Lucy got the blood to me in time. Can I get you a drink?" he asked.

Selina nodded. "Lemonade?"

"Sure," Damon said. "I've got that." He poured her a glass of lemonade, got a beer for himself and the two of them sat at the kitchen table and watched out the window as snow began to fall.

"Lucy's gone back to Mimi's," he told her after a moment. "If you came here looking for her."

Selina shook her head. "I didn't. I came here to see if you were okay. And thank you for saving Lucy's life. It was a brave thing you did."

Damon flushed a little. "It was nothing. Considering she wouldn't have died permanently anyway. It was probably more stupid than brave."

Selina reached for his hand and took hold of it, locking eyes with him. "Now, you listen to me," she said. "No matter if Lucy would have died permanently or not, the bite would have made her go through changes that would have been a big shock to her system because I've been less than open with her about her werewolf side. I mean, she knows it's there and everything, but I've neglected to explain things in detail like I did with Roxie and Adrian. So what you did was a good thing and I'm grateful. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Damon said as she let his hand go. "She asked me why I did it and I told her about the first time we had to change you back after Mason turned you human. How hard it was for all of us to go through. And how it would have been even harder for me to go through it with her than it was for me to go through it with you. No offense or anything."

Selina shook her head. "None taken, really. Now, did you tell Sam about what happened to you? Does he know you almost died?"

Damon shrugged. "I actually don't know where Sam is," he said. "I know it sounds horrible, but he bolted after he found out about Lucy and me and I haven't heard from him since."

Selina's mouth became a thin line. "We'll have to change that," she said. "Let me see if I can't get him here myself."

"Good luck finding him," Damon said. He watched her swallow the rest of her lemonade in one gulp and then she stood up and grabbed her coat.

"Don't worry about me," she said. "I'll find him. "I have my ways." She put her coat on and strode out the door, getting in her car and driving away.

* * *

><p>As Selina drove away from the house, she picked up her phone and tried to call Roxie several times, but got no answer. "It figures," she muttered under her breath. "She probably saw that it's me and is refusing to pick up." Then, she saw something in the rearview mirror that gave her a start. Joshua had appeared and was sitting calmly in her backseat.<p>

"Looking for Sam?" He asked.

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "Your father said that he hasn't heard a word from him in days."

"And no wonder," Joshua said. "Sam comes home for a nice visit and finds Father in bed with that girl who has the _gall_ to call herself my sister."

"She _is_ your sister," Selina said. "Whether you like it or not."

Joshua raised an eyebrow. "The way you speak, it's as if you're condoning her behavior. You're not, are you?"

"It was a bit jarring when I first found out about them, I admit it," Selina said. "But now that I've had time to adjust to the idea, it's not so bad, really. I mean, it's not like your father is seeing anyone else. And Lucy's not. And the two of them aren't related by blood. She was in danger recently and your father risked his life to save hers. This isn't a casual thing, Joshua. Your father genuinely has feelings for Lucy."

Joshua looked at her stonily from the backseat and said nothing.

"You don't think like Sam does?" She asked after a moment. "You don't hope that your father and I will get back together and see Lucy as an obstacle to that?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Mother!" Joshua said, looking genuinely disgusted at her suggestion. "I understand and respect your desire to have your own life and don't hate you for pursing other men. But for goodness' sake, Lucy is only a child! Father should find someone more suitable for him. Someone older and more mature."

"Lucy's more mature than you give her credit for," Selina said.

"I wasn't speaking of her physically. I was speaking more in terms of emotionally and mentally," Joshua said.

Selina nodded. "And so was I. But you don't have to worry. Lucy's been offered the opportunity to go off to Europe and study art for a year and her father, uncle and I have encouraged her to take it. If all things go as planned, for the next year, she won't be anywhere _near_ your father."

"It's nice to see you're thinking as sensibly as I am," Joshua said with approval. "In that years' time, Father will have moved on and so will Lucy."

"That's what her father and uncle are hoping, but they both have promised that when she gets back from Europe, if she still feels strongly about your father, then we'll all let it go and see what happens. She'll be grown up by then, old enough to make her own decisions."

"And I hope she'll make the right one and leave Father alone," Joshua said. "That's what would be kindest."

"It's no use talking to you," Selina said. "I'd be better off talking to Roxanne. I've been trying to reach her for quite awhile, but no one's answering the phone at her house. She's the only one I can think of who might know where Sam is staying. I'll try her again. I just don't know why she's not answering. I would think at the very least, she'd pick the phone up so I would stop calling every two seconds. But no, she won't even do that for me." Selina sighed and dialed Roxie's number again, and once again, there was no answer.

* * *

><p>"Where <em>are<em> we?" Vince asked as he sat up in the sturdy oak bed and looked around at the walls of a room painted in burnished gold.

"I don't know," Roxie said. "But it's nice."

They sat in silence for a moment, then Vince reached over and gave Roxie a pinch. "Ow!" She said, eyeing him reproachfully. "What the hell was that for?"

"Sorry," Vince said. "I just wanted to see if this was a dream or not, because I know for a fact that this is _not_ the room we went to sleep in last night."

"True," Roxie said. "What if you and I both got really drunk and drove here or something?" She asked. "Is that possible?"

He nodded. "Well, us getting drunk enough to do something we don't remember _is_ a possibility, but I don't think we could drive drunk and come out of it as well as we have. I mean, I don't see any bumps or bruises on you." He looked at her under the covers. She wasn't wearing anything and neither was he. "All of you is as perfect as normal." She nodded and looked under the covers herself. "I could say the same thing about you. So what does that leave us with?"

"I would say that our friends might have kidnapped us and brought us here as a surprise, but we don't really have any couple friends since Charlie and Tony moved away," Vince said.

Just then, there was a knock on their bedroom door. Roxie covered herself up and Vince called for the person on the other side of the door to come in.

The door opened and Roxie grinned as she saw the familiar face. "Alistair!" she said as he came in the room. "We're so glad to see you. Where are we?"

He gave her a sad little smile, his dark eyes full of pity. "It's not surprising you don't remember anything about last night," he said. "Due to the accident and all. It seems you had a bit too much to drink and crashed near here. We picked you up."

"No, see, we can't have gotten into an accident last night or been drunk because I am _not_ hungover and I don't have any bumps or bruises or anything like that."

"Well, that's because I healed you the minute the servants brought you in," he said. "You two were real messes both of you. But you seem fine now. Would you like some breakfast? Sera insisted that you come down and eat with her when you felt like being up and about."

"Oh," Roxie said, "Sure. Tell Sera we'd be more than happy to join her for breakfast."

Alistair gave a small bow. "Of course. And I laid out some of her clothes for you, Miss. And some of the master's for you," he added to Vince. "See the two of you downstairs shortly."

He shut the door and Roxie looked at Vince's clueless face eagerly. "Do you know where we are?" She asked.

"No," Vince shook his head. "We've been trying to figure that out. Remember?"

"Well, I think I know now," Roxie said. "We're in the twenties! We've traveled back in time somehow!"

"You're kidding, right?" Vince told her. "Where are we really?"

"I'm serious!" Roxie said insistently. "That Sera that Alistair was talking about, that's the name Mom went by when she and Dad were first together. _In the twenties_!" She shook him, eagerly. "Isn't that exciting?!" As if to prove her point, there was another knock at the door after She and Vince had dressed. "Come in," Roxie said.

Vince gasped at the blonde who poked her head in. "Is everything all right in here?" She asked. "The two of you seem much better than when the men picked you up last night after that car wreck."

"We're great," Roxie said. "Thanks for taking us in to your home like this."

The blonde nodded. "It's no problem." She then looked at Vince with concern. "Are you all right?" She asked. "Why do you keep looking at me so oddly. Do I have something on my face?"

"No," Vince said, blinking and looking away. "It's just that you look an awful lot like...someone we know back home."

"Do I?" Sera asked, fluffing up her hair. "Is she pretty?"

Vince nodded. "Yes. The likeness is uncanny."

"Aren't you just a charmer?" Sera asked with a grin. "Well, take your time dressing. I'll be going back downstairs now."

"Just a minute," Roxie said as Sera put her hand on the doorknob.

"Yes?" Sera asked.

"The man who lives with you, will he be joining us for breakfast?" Roxie asked hopefully.

Sera shook her head. "I'm sorry. Nicky left early this morning. He and his brother went on a...hunting trip."

"Oh, darn," Roxie said. "I was looking forward to meeting him!"

"I'm sorry," Sera said. "He's a very charming man. You'd like him. Lots of people do." She sighed sadly, shut the door and then they heard her walk away.

"Well, that was weird!" Vince said. "Is it just me, or did that woman look exactly like your mother?"

"That _is_ my mother!" Roxie said impatiently. "I told you that, remember? We're in the twenties, she's a blonde named Sera, and she and Dad are together."

"But from the looks of things, it seems like there's trouble in paradise," Vince said. "She looked kind of sad when she was talking about him." Vince grabbed the calendar off the bedside table and looked at it. "1927. That's the date on this thing. Do you know what your parents were doing in 1927?"

Roxie shrugged. "I don't know. "I bet if we got downstairs, though, we could ask." They hurried downstairs and found Sera poking listlessly at her eggs. "Are you okay?" Roxie asked, sitting next to her. "What's the matter?"

"Can I tell the both of you a secret?" Sera asked Roxie and Vince, her eyes wide.

"Sure," Roxie said. Vince nodded. "What is it?"

"I'm in a relationship and I don't really want to be in it anymore," Sera said.

"You mean with Dad?" Roxie asked. Sera gave her a strange look. Roxie flushed. "I mean, with Nicky? That's what you call him, right?"

Sera nodded.

"Why do you think you want to end things with him?" Vince asked.

"Because I need something else in my relationship now," Sera said. "I was angry before, and Nicky helped me vent and we had our fun. But now, I-I just want to be with Elijah. He helps me be a better person even though I've done bad things." She looked at Roxie. "You understand what I'm saying?" She flipped her short blond hair out of her eyes.

Roxie nodded and moved her hand to grasp Vince's. "I think I do," she said.

"Who's she talking about?" Vince whispered to Roxie.

"My uncle," Roxie whispered back. "The guy she's with in our time."

Vince nodded. "Oh."

"It's so nice to meet someone who understands," Sera said. "Now all I have to do is tell Nicky, but I don't know how."

"I don't know what you're so worried about," Roxie said. "How much of a relationship do you and Elijah have? Have you had sex with him yet?"

Sera shook her head. "No, but I want to," she said. "I really, _really_ want to. And it's not like Nicky and I are in any sort of committed relationship. I mean, we get through the day, come home, jump into bed together and that's it. We've both been with other people before."

"So just go ahead and sleep with Elijah," Vince said. "It shouldn't need a lot of thinking over." Then he winced as Roxie kicked him in the shin.

"I would," Sera told Vince, "But something is holding me back. He still doesn't know that I kill people. That I have killed people. And I'm still doing it...sort of. But I'm on my last one. I swore to myself that after I gave this man what was coming to him, I wouldn't kill anyone else."

"Wow," Roxie said, eyes wide. "This must be some guy. What did he do to you?"

Sera poked at her eggs again. "It wasn't something he did to _me_ necessarily. I have this business where I mete out vengeance for women who've been wronged and this man, Alfred McIntyre, he's gone through lots of women in his long life and they've all killed themselves because of his heartlessness. Now, even a year ago, I would not have felt a stab of sympathy for women in their situation, but-"

"But what?" Roxie pressed. "Is Alfred a special case?"

Sera nodded. "He and I have a family rivalry going on, you might say."

"Yeah," Roxie nodded. "His mom tried to steal your fiance right out from under your nose, right? And now you want to make his mom suffer by killing him."

"How do you know that?" Sera asked.

"Alfred told me the story himself," Roxie said. "He's a vampire, you know. You turn him."

"How do you know what I'm going to do before I do it?" Sera asked. She was becoming disconcerted. She put her napkin down, stood up and called for Alistair. "Just who are these two?" She asked. "They talk as if they're from the future or something!"

"We are," Roxie said. "When we went to bed last night, we were more than a hundred years in the future and now here we are."

Alistair looked deep into Roxie's eyes. "When I entered your room this morning, you greeted me by name, as if we were old friends, yet we've never met."

"Yeah, we have," Roxie said. "You're my dad's lackey so I've pretty much known you all my life."

"You're Nicky's daughter from the future?" Sera asked.

Roxie nodded. "Yeah. And yours. You're my mother. Surprised?"

Sera nodded. "To say the least. I'm not capable of having children. I don't know what made you come up with such a wild story."

"It's not a story," Roxie said. "Your real name is Selina Warren. You were born in Mystic Falls, Virginia on Halloween, 1846 to a woman who had a werewolf gene and a father who went off to war when you were just two months old. He never came back. When you were seventeen, you got engaged to a man named Damon Salvatore, but right after that, he went off to fight for the Confederacy in the Civil War. You didn't see him again for years and years, but before you became a vampire, you gave birth to his son, who you named Joshua...do I need to go on?"

Sera put her hand on her forehead. "No, you can stop. I believe you. Why did you come here?"

"That's the same way you look at me back home!" Roxie said, making note of Sera's sour expression. "My name is Roxanne, by the way, but my friends call me Roxie. At least Vince does. I don't actually have any other friends."

Just then, a girl about twelve years old came into the kitchen and looked at Sera with narrowed dark eyes. "I can't believe I have to be stuck here with _you_ all day," she said.  
>"I wish Nick would have taken me with him."<p>

"Well, I think we all wish that," Roxie said before Sera could respond. "Maybe if he would have taken you with him, he might have gotten careless and accidently killed you. That would be _such_ a shame."

"If you weren't an idiot, you would know that Nick and his brother don't hunt with _guns_." The girl burst out laughing. "That's so pedestrian!"

"Mary Anne-" Sera began.

"You are the the most pathetic person on the planet!" Mary Anne said, ignoring her. "I can't believe I used to be scared of you!"

The next moment, the smaller girl felt herself get slammed against the wall by Roxie. "Listen you," she said. "That woman is my mother and _nobody_ is allowed to talk to her like that except me. And even _I _shouldn't be doing it. You even so much as open your mouth again and I am going to snap you in two. Do you understand me?"

Mary Anne's eyes widened and she nodded. Roxie threw her on the kitchen floor and then watched her get up and scamper from the room as quick as she could.

"Sorry about that," Roxie said. "You usually get mad at me when I do stuff like, you know, hurt people."

"I do?" Sera asked. "Well, I'll forgive you just this once. I've been wanting to drop kick that girl like a football ever since your father brought her in here."

"I don't blame you," Roxie said. "She seems like a real pain in the ass."

Sera nodded. "But Nicky seems to like her, so I have to be on my best behavior. It's so annoying."

Just then, the doorbell rang. "That's Alfred," Sera said. "He's really old now. You'd never guess from looking at him that he used to be a ladykiller." She went to the door and opened it to revel a dapperly elderly dressed man holding flowers. "Are you ready to go to the cemetery?" He asked her.

"Cemetery?" Roxie asked. "That's a strange place for a date."

"She's coming with me to visit the graves of some friends of mine," Alfred said stiffly.

Roxie scoffed. "Yeah..._friends_. Mind if I come along?"

"Actually," Sera said quickly, I would prefer to be alone, just the two of us. You understand, don't you?" She asked.

"Sure," Roxie said. "Sure, I understand."

They left and then Roxie ran to Alistair. "Do you have a car?" She asked him.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because I want to find out what Sera and Alfred are up to!" Roxie said. "So get the car and let's follow them!"

Alistair eyed her for a moment and sighed. "You really _are_ Klaus' daughter, aren't you?" He asked dryly.

"Uh-huh!" Roxie nodded. "Now we have to get to the car. If you don't drive, I will drive myself."

Sighing, his gaze heavenward, Alistair led Roxie and Vince to the car and they followed Alfred and Sera to the cemetery, where Roxie instructed Alistair to park the car under a large shade tree where Sera and Alfred wouldn't be able to see them.

"What are we supposed to be watching for?" Vince asked her, his hand running down her back and over her butt.

"Stop doing that!" Roxie whispered. "I have to see Mom kill Alfred. I can't be distracted."

"Okay, okay," Vince said, moving his hand. "Geez!"

"Shush!" Roxie said, watching Alfred and Sera walk among the tombstones. Finally, they stopped in front of one and as Alfred looked at it, Sera pulled out a knife and plunged it into his cape, pinning him to the grave. Then she bit him and fed him her blood before leaving him alone on the grave, casting a hunted look about her and running off.

"Okay," Roxie said when the drama had finished. "I've seen all I need to. We can go."

"Shouldn't we help him?" Vince asked.

Roxie shook her head. "No. That would be interfering with the natural order of things."

"You really are a piece of work," Vince said. "Will you marry me?"

"What?" Roxie asked.

"Will you marry me?" Vince repeated.

Roxie leaned forward and gripped Alistair's shoulder. "Send us back," she said. "To our own time."

Alistair told them to shut their eyes and when they opened them again, they were in their own room.

"So," Vince asked. "Will it be yes or no?"

* * *

><p>Selina finally managed to locate Sam and with dismay, went to his house.<p>

"Mom?" He asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you," she said. "Did you know that your father almost died?"

"Really?" Sam asked. "How?"

"Saving your sister," Selina told him. "Lucy almost got bitten by a werewolf."

"Oh, it's a shame it didn't actually happen," Sam said. "If that's all you came to say, I don't really care. Goodbye, Mom."

Selina peered down the hallway over his shoulder and even in the darkness, she spotted a picture of Lucy pinned to a wall that had several knives stuck in it.

"Would you care to explain that?" She asked him. "And to invite me in?"

"No," Sam said quickly. "You can't come in. Sorry." Selina pushed past him and went into the house. She was horrified by what she saw. Everything was a mess and there were several effigies of Lucy that had things poking out of them. Selina began throwing them in the trash.

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" She snapped at him. "Thinking of your sister that way. What's she ever done to you?"

"You think _I _should be ashamed?" Sam asked. "What about _you_? You ignored me all these years in favor of her, giving her all the advantages when I had next to none. In case you've forgotten, I'm just a human. Lucy's all sorts of things. I've had to fight for everything in my life and what's she had to do? Nothing. You had all the time in the world for Lucy and none for me, and you don't even care! If you ask me, _you_ are the one who should be feeling shame, not me. Now leave," he said roughly.

Selina stopped and held her arms out. "Sammy, I'm sorry, I-"

"Just _go_!" He snapped and shut the door in her face. She turned around, went back to her car, and by the time she reached the house, her face was red, wet and puffy from crying. She got out of the car and went inside, finding Elijah in the bedroom.

"I'm sorry about this morning," he said, coming to put his arms around her. "I shouldn't have snapped at you about Gregory."

She shook her head and sniffled. "That doesn't matter," she said. "Would you just hold me? I've had a bad several hours." He held her for a few minutes and then sat her down on the bed. "I've got something that will cheer you up," he said. He returned a few minutes later, holding Gregory, who held a single light pink rose in his little fist. "This is for you," Elijah said.

"Thank you," Selina said, taking it from Gregory. "That's beautiful."

Elijah sat Gregory down on the floor and kissed Selina deeply. As he lowered her onto the bed, she said, "Don't you think we ought to get Gregory back to his room before this goes any farther?"

Sighing, Elijah took Gregory back to his room and ran back to Selina. They undressed and made love for quite a while before they took a break. Then, Selina took a deep breath and rolled over to face Elijah."What if you're the boss in this room?" She asked. "I won't try to fight you for the title or anything."

"Oh, there's no question that I'm the boss in here," Elijah said. "But it's nice to hear you admit it. Now have you had a long enough break? I think I'm ready to begin again." He rolled her underneath him and ran his hands over her. Selina giggled and said, "Yes, boss."


	49. Seeing Is Believing

"Yes or no for what?" Roxie asked.

"You know for what," Vince said. "Will you marry me or not?"

"I can't believe that's how you propose to me!" Roxie said. "I mean, it just came out of nowhere! We're in a cemetery watching my mother kill someone and boom! You propose. Maybe I should start questioning what you find romantic."

"It didn't just come out of nowhere!" Vince said. "I've been wanting to marry you for years, but you wanted to grow up and see the world first. It's been awhile since I asked, but when I heard your mom talk about her feelings for your uncle, I was inspired to ask again."

"And maybe if you asked the right way, I'd say yes," Roxie told him. "You know, get down on your knee and all that. Did you get a ring?"

"No," Vince shook his head. "But it's on my list of things to do."

Roxie rolled her eyes. "You didn't even get a ring," she said flatly. "You've been wanting to propose to me for years and you didn't even get me a ring."

"Well, I thought you'd want to pick it out," Vince said. "Just in case you had something particular in mind."

Roxie sighed. "That's reasonable, I guess. I'm sorry."

Vince stood up and left the room, coming back with a shiny pink plastic ring made up to look like it had a big diamond on it. "I found this in a box of cereal," he said. "Will it do for now?"

Roxie nodded. "Yeah."

"All right then," he got down on his knee. "Roxanne Amelia Mikaelson, will you marry me?"

And Roxie nodded. "I will."

He put the ring on her and they both sat down. "So, we're engaged," he said.

She nodded. "Yeah, we are." She let out a breath.

"Do you think your dad will hate me for this?" He asked. "Should we not tell him about it?"

"We _have_ to tell him!" Roxie said. "He and I just made up, kind of. So I think it would be very hurtful to him if I didn't let him know."

"Well, all right," Vince said. "You can go and tell him. But maybe you should make sure he's drunk or something before you do it."

"Why are you so scared of my dad?" Roxie asked. "He _asked_ you to marry me four years ago. Why should things be different now?"

"Roxie, he had his goons break my legs!" Vince said. "You don't forget something like that!"

"Well, do you want to marry me or don't you?" Roxie asked.

"I do!" Vince said. "I just want to wait to tell your dad about it until _after_ it happens, in case he gets it into his head to interfere."

"Well, I think you're worrying for nothing and that we should tell him now," Roxie said. "In fact, that's just what I'm going to do right now."

* * *

><p>"So," Caroline was saying to Lucy, "what's the big news you came to tell me?"<p>

"Well, I don't know if Dad told you or not, but I'm going to Europe for a year," Lucy said. "A friend of mine, my mentor, actually, has friends in Europe who own galleries and one of those friends came over and got a look at one of my painting and told Mimi, that's my friend's name, that she liked what she saw and wanted to use my work to promote her gallery and in exchange, she'd give me lessons!"

"That's fantastic!" Caroline said, giving Lucy a hug. "I'm so happy for you."

"Well, I should be thanking Dad for letting me go," Lucy said. "He and Mom and Uncle Elijah."

"I thought it would be a good chance for her to see the world," Klaus said. "And who knows?" He said to Lucy, "Caroline and I might come and visit you sometime. If that's all right with you, of course."

Lucy nodded. "Of course. But if you're coming solely to see my work, you wouldn't have to go all the way to Europe. I have some stuff back at my studio that you can have a look at right now."

"That sounds good," Caroline said. "Let's go!"

Just then, they heard a car drive up and a car door slam shut. "Hello?" called a voice. "Anybody home?"

"Roxie," Caroline breathed. "It's a good thing we can tell her we're just leaving."

"Now, just a minute," Klaus said. "Maybe she came over here for a reason. Maybe she's got something important on her mind that we need to hear."

Caroline sighed. "Fine," she said, and then reluctantly sat back down.

"If you don't want to stay, no one is forcing you," Klaus said. "Why don't you go with Lucy to her gallery and have a look at her paintings, and I will stay here and see what Roxanne is up to. Would that be a satisfactory arrangement?"

Caroline stood up again. "Yes, that would be good." But they didn't make it out of the house before Roxie got in. "Don't tell me the two of you are leaving!" Roxie said to them. "You have to stay! I want you to hear what I have to say too!"

"Well, what is it?" Klaus asked. "Something exciting, obviously."

"Yeah," Roxie nodded. "But Daddy, you have to promise that you'll listen to this with an open mind and not get all upset."

Klaus, who had been grinning, sobered up at the comment. "What is it, Roxanne? What have you done now?"

"I got engaged!" Roxie said, taking off her gloves and holding out her hand. "See?"

"Where did you get that ring?" Caroline asked. "It looks like something that came out of a cereal box."

Roxie nodded. "It _did_ come out of a cereal box. But it's just temporary. I'm gonna go pick out my real ring later."

"Who are you engaged to?" Caroline asked.

"Is it Vince?" Lucy asked. "I hope it's Vince. I like him. He's nice."

"Of course it's Vince!" Roxie said, feeling offended. "Who else would it be?"

"I don't know!" Lucy said. "I don't have the energy to keep up with your love life."

"Yet _you_ are perfectly all right broadcasting _yours_ to everyone!" Roxie said. "Don't think you can try and start things with me, because-"

"Now everyone, just calm down," Klaus said. "This isn't a time to fight."

Roxie nodded. "You're right, Daddy. I'm sorry. How do you feel? Are you all right?"

"Of course," Klaus said. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I know you've had problems with Vince in the past," Roxie said carefully. "And I just wanted to make sure-"

"I'm fine!" Klaus cut her off. "If I told him he could marry you four years ago, then of course he can marry you _now_!"

"That's what _he_ said," Roxie replied. "But I just wanted to come over here and let you know in person."

"How kind of you," Klaus said. "Thank you, Roxanne."

"Do you have any ideas about what you want to do for your wedding?" Caroline asked her tentatively.

"No," Roxie shook her head. "We've only been engaged for a few hours, so we haven't even started talking details yet."

"I could help," Caroline said. "I'd be glad to."

"Well-" Roxie began.

"Roxanne would be grateful for your help," Klaus said. "In fact, after you and Lucy get back from her gallery, why don't you and Roxie go to the living room and throw some ideas around?"

"Sounds good to me," Caroline said.

"Good," Klaus told her. After they left, Roxie glared at her father. "Why did you tell her it was okay for her to help me plan my wedding?"

"Well, you yourself said that you didn't have any ideas yet," Klaus said.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I need her help!" Roxie replied. "She's just gonna ruin everything. I can feel it!"

"What do you think she's going to ruin?" Klaus asked.

"Well, obviously she and I don't have the same tastes," Roxie said. "She could take over the whole thing and it would look like something she'd like rather than something _I'd _like."

"Which is why it is important for the two of you to communicate with each other," Klaus said. "Caroline volunteered to help you. I'm sure she's not interested in taking over."

"I don't know about that," Roxie said skeptically.

"Are you going to call your mother to buffer the wedding planning like you called her to buffer the dinner party?" Klaus asked.

Roxie nodded. "I just might." She left the kitchen, went to the bedroom she usually slept in when she visited and called her mother.

* * *

><p>Selina and Gregory were grooving to holiday music when Selina heard the phone ring. She picked up a very unhappy Gregory and carried him with her to the kitchen.<p>

"I know you don't like being taken away from the music," Selina said. "But I can't just leave you alone in the living room, now can I?" She put him in his high chair and grabbed the phone. "Hello?"

"Mom?" The voice on the other end of the line sounded uncertain.

"Roxanne!" Selina said immediately. "What a surprise that you called. What is it that you want from me now?"

"I wanted to tell you that Vince and I are engaged," Roxie said. "It just happened today."

"Really?" Selina asked. "That's so exciting. I'm very happy for you. Have you told your father? Did he throw a fit?"

"Yeah, I told him," Roxie said. "He said he was okay with it, and he didn't throw a tantrum, but I just don't know. I have a feeling that something might happen later."

"We'll have to keep a close eye on him," Selina said. "So do you have any ideas about what you're going to do?"

"That's the other reason why I called," Roxie said. "Caroline was there when I told Dad and Lucy and she volunteered to help me plan things out. Dad told her I'd be glad to have her help and now I'm stuck with her."

"You need me to buffer again," Selina said dryly.

"Well, it wouldn't have happened if Dad had just told Caroline to mind her own business," Roxie said. "I don't know _why_ he insists on throwing the two of us together at every single possible opportunity."

"He just wants you to get along," Selina said. "That's all."

"But it's _absence _that makes the heart grow fonder, not constantly being put in the same room as someone!" Roxie said.

"I know," Selina said. "I myself had to get used to Caroline when I first met her, but she means well."

"Did you ever have an experience like this?" Roxie asked.

"I have a feeling that if I would have gotten to be married as a human, I would have had very similar feelings to the ones you're having," Selina said. "But outside of hypotheticals, there was a time years ago that my mother signed me up for a beauty pageant without my consent."

"Your mother forced you to be in a beauty pageant?" Roxie asked. "Did you protest?"

"Vociferously," Selina nodded. "But it was to no avail. It was something called the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. A lot of girls who were from families that founded the town were in it besides me. Mama said that since I was a descendant of not just one founding family, but two, it was my duty to put on my dress and be paraded in front of a bunch of judges like like a prize cow."

"Your mother sounds like a real pain in the butt," Roxie said. "Did you even win the competition after all that trouble?"

"No," Selina said. "Caroline did, actually. I think. I can't really remember now."

"So you understand why I called and need your help," Roxie said. "Will you help me?"

Selina said, "Of course, dear. Where are you?"

"I'm at Daddy's," Roxie said. "Caroline's not here. She and Lucy went to Lucy's gallery to look at her paintings, but she could be back any minute, so please hurry as fast as you can."

She hung up then and Selina looked at the phone for a moment and set the phone back in the cradle. Then she went and picked up Gregory, taking him back to the living room and turning on the music again. When Elijah got home, she would go and rescue Roxie.

* * *

><p>"So has Lucy told you about her opportunity to go to Europe yet?" Mimi asked as she and Damon sat and chatted in her living room.<p>

"Yes," Damon nodded. "That's what I came to talk to you about, actually. There wouldn't be any way I could come with, would there?"

"No," Mimi said, looking at him sadly. "But I understand why you want to come. I bet it will be hard for you, being without her for a year, won't it?"

He nodded. "But if it will help her art, she should go. I mean, what kind of person would I be if I interfered with her dreams?"

"You are a very nice young man," Mimi said to him as she looked at him fondly. "A lot nicer than that other young man she used to bring around sometimes. I can't remember what his name was."

"Jason?" Damon supplied.

"Yes!" Mimi nodded. "Jason. He had a bad look about him. Did you know that Lucy was with him the night she got attacked in the park? That wolf showed up out of nowhere and he just ran off scared."

"Yeah," Damon nodded. "I heard she was rescued by some drunk stumbling around the park at the right moment."

"Don't put yourself down that way," Mimi said. "Everyone has their bad moments. I've had a break up or two where the first thing I did was drown my sorrows. The important thing is that you showed up when you did and saved her."

"Yeah," Damon nodded. "I guess that _is_ the important thing."

"So as far as Lucy is concerned, when she and I are in Europe, I suppose I could send you updates of her progress," Mimi said. "If you wanted me to. She'll probably be too busy working to do it herself."

Damon nodded. "Yeah, I would like that. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Mimi said, grinning at him. "Lucy's lucky to have found a man like you."

Damon shook his head. "Not as lucky as I am to have found her," he said.

Just then, the door to the house opened and Lucy and Caroline came in. When he saw her, Damon stood up. "Hi, Lucy," he said.

"Hi," Lucy replied. "What brings you here, Damon?"

"I was just telling him more about what you're going to be doing in Europe," Mimi said. "He's _very_ interested."

"Is he?" Lucy asked. "Well, I've brought Caroline over to show her some of my paintings." She looked at Damon. "Do you want to come too?"

Damon nodded. "Of course. You lead the way."

Lucy nodded and led him and Caroline up to her studio space, which by now was much bigger than anyone else's.

"Looks like you've done a lot of work in here," Caroline said. "You should really show your father sometime."

"I've shown him most of it already, except for a couple of things," Lucy said. "So it can wait until after Roxie's wedding. My sister is starved enough for affection from him as it is. I don't want to give her more of a reason to hate me."

"Roxie's what?" Damon asked. "Did you just say the words 'Roxie' and 'wedding' in the same sentence?"

"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "Her boyfriend proposed with a ring from a cereal box and she said 'yes'."

"The guy must be a saint," Damon muttered.

Lucy nodded. "As long as I've known him, I've thought so."

"I offered to help her plan it," Caroline piped up. "And she accepted."

Damon's lip quirked. "Seriously? What's the vibe you're going for? Barbie's Dream House meets Harley-Davidson?"

"Roxie has a Harley?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "She and Vince both do. They're in a garage downtown."

"Oh, my god," Caroline said. She was picturing a bunch of leather clad, tattooed bikers charging into the reception hall she worked so hard to prepare and just trashing the place. It would be like Altamont all over again.

"Maybe you should sit down," Lucy said, helping her to a chair. She gestured at a particularly violent scene. "This picture has been _known _to make anyone who looks at it woozy and it appears you're no exception."

"No," Caroline shook her head. "It's not that. It's just, now I think I might be in over my head with Roxie."

"You realize that _now_?" Damon asked. "I thought it would have always been obvious."

"Oh, shut up!" Caroline shot back. "I was only trying to help!"

"Let's calm down now," Lucy said. "There's no need to pick fights with each other. Yeah, Caroline. My sister has a Harley, so does Vince, and they spend most of their time at the werewolf bar. I know Dad's taken you there."

"Yeah," Caroline nodded. "I've been there. I didn't like it much."

"What a shame," Damon said. "That's probably where they'll be having the reception."

"From the sound of things, you'd be better at planning Roxie's wedding than I would," Caroline said to him. "Why don't you give her your resume?"

Damon narrowed his eyes, but seeing the look on Lucy's face, he kept his scathing retort to himself and looked at the gory painting she'd just indicated. "I bet I know what inspired this," he said as he looked at the graphically gory painting of a wolf standing over a seemingly unconscious young man, his snout and the man's middle covered in red.

"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "It's hard to forget something like that. I painted it the nights afterward, when I couldn't sleep. It helped keep the nightmares away."

"You had nightmares?" He asked her. "I'm sorry. You could have come back to my house, you know. That might have been easier than you being here by yourself."

Lucy sighed. "Thanks. But sometimes, I just have to suffer for my art, you know?"

"This should be one of the ones you have the lady at the gallery put on display," Damon said. "I think it will really stir people up."

"You can't put something that graphic out for the public!" Caroline said. "It will scare people away!"

"Matthew Brady took pictures of dead soldiers on the Civil War battlefields," Lucy said quietly. "And during World War I, there was an art movement called Dadaism that was a sort backlash against the war. The artists painted really grotesque pictures of people bleeding or being without their limbs or whatever, or if they didn't do that, they just painted stuff that was very abstract and didn't really seem like anything unless you looked really hard. So there _is_ a place for something like this out there, and I think it's what I'll start out with."

"I think it will really get you somewhere," Damon said approvingly.

Lucy smiled at him. "You think?"

Damon nodded. "Of course."

"Don't you have anything cheerier?" Caroline asked. "More along the lines of Monet and his waterlilies?"

"Sure," Lucy said. "Come on." She led Caroline to another corner of the room while Damon stayed and looked at the first picture.

"I painted this one when I woke up at just the right time in the morning," Lucy said, as she showed Caroline a picture of the early morning sky. "The sun was just starting to come up. It was so beautiful."

Caroline nodded. "I bet."

They looked at few more pictures and then Caroline said, "We should probably get back to Roxie. I bet she's been waiting for us forever."

"I have an idea," Damon said. "How about you go back to Roxie and Lucy and I will stay here and look at her pictures?"

"Okay!" Lucy said.

"You don't want to come back with me?" Caroline asked, looking a little hurt.

"Caroline, if I come with you, I will witness something that will inspire another picture with lots of gore in it," Lucy said calmly. "And I don't think that's something I can deal with. I would much rather stay here."

"Well, all right," Caroline said. "I'll just be going then."

"Bye," Lucy called after her. Once the sound of Caroline's footsteps had faded away, Damon grinned at Lucy. "So, we're up here alone. What do you want to do now?"

"I don't know," Lucy said, grinning. "What do _you_ wanna do?"

He pulled her to him and kissed her once, then his eye caught the picture of him and the wolf again. "Did you really have nightmares after, you know?"

"After I was nearly attacked? You can say it, Damon," Lucy said. "It's all right. And yeah, I did."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Damon asked. And don't give me some line about suffering for your art. What was the real reason?"

"I just didn't want to bother you," Lucy said, not meeting his eyes. "You shouldn't be worrying about me so much. You should worry more about Sam."

"Sam doesn't want to have anything to do with me anymore," Damon said. "I bet he doesn't even know how close I came to dying. That means the only person that's left without someone to worry about them is you." He put his hand under her chin so that her eyes met his. "Don't keep anything like this from me again," he said. "I don't like knowing that you're here suffering by yourself. Let me help you."

"I don't have the nightmares anymore," Lucy said. "They've ended."

"Well, just remember for the future," Damon said. "If you start have nightmares again, let me know."

Lucy nodded. "I will. Even if I have to call you from Europe at two in the morning, I will let you know." She paused. "Can we not talk about this anymore?"

He nodded. "Sure. Would you rather go to your room and..." He trailed off as she threw herself into his arms and they fell to the floor. Their hands went everywhere on each other and by the time they stopped for breath, Lucy's top and bra were in a corner and Damon was also shirtless. They stared at one another for a second or two and then kept going. Soon, they were naked and rolling around on the studio floor. They were so involved with one another that they didn't hear the footsteps coming up the studio stairs or the opening of the door. It was a woman's shriek that finally brought them to their senses. They looked up and found an amused Mimi standing next to an older couple who looked horrified.

"Hi," Lucy said, as if Mimi had just come by for a normal visit. "Mimi, who are these people?"

"Lucy, these are my parents," Mimi said. She was trying not to laugh. "I thought I'd come up and show them some of your work. Sorry for interrupting you."

"Oh, no," Lucy laughed. "It's fine."

"We'll just leave now and let you...finish." She hustled her parents out of the attic. The couple couldn't leave quick enough.

"Well, that was something, wasn't it?" Lucy asked Damon once they were gone.

Damon nodded. "Mimi seemed to enjoy it, anyway."

"It's always enjoyable to get the rise out of prudish people," Lucy said. "I don't understand people like that at all. There's no reason to be ashamed of your body. I'm not."

Damon looked her over. "And I'm _certainly_ not. Just promise me you won't become the muse of any promising male sculptors when you're in Europe, all right?"

"Okay," Lucy said. "I promise." She paused. "You know what? Maybe I'll spend the night with you after all. Would you mind?"

Damon shook his head. "No, not at all. Just tell me when you want to leave here."

* * *

><p>Back at Klaus' house, Roxie, Selina and a less enthusiastic Caroline began to plan Roxie's wedding. "I don't want anything fancy," Roxie said. "Or big."<p>

"So what?" Caroline asked. "Only two or three hundred people?"

"I don't think I know that many," Roxie said. "Vince is really the only person I'm close to."

"What about Charlie and Tony?" Selina asked. "You should at least let them know. I mean, you _were_ maid of honor at their wedding."

"Yeah," Roxie nodded. "I'll try and get a hold of Charlie. So it will be Charlie, Tony, Vince, me, Dad, you, Uncle Elijah and-"

"Me?" Caroline finished.

"Sure," Roxie nodded. "I mean, _somebody_ has to serve drinks at the reception, right?"

Caroline opened her mouth to protest and Selina said, "Let it go, Caroline. Just let it go."

Caroline pursed her lips and sat back in her chair.

"So your parents, your siblings, and your two best friends," Selina said, drawing on a notepad. "Sounds like a good wedding to me."

"And when I go into work tomorrow, I think I'll ask Enid if she'd be willing to host the reception," Roxie said. "That way, Ronan can be there. I like him."

"You want to have your wedding reception at a _bar_?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah!" Roxie said. "I'm sorry if it's gauche or something in your universe, but it's what I want and if you don't like it, you don't have to come. In fact, I would prefer it if you didn't!" She got up from the table and stomped off.

"Sorry," Caroline said when Selina frowned at her. "That was one of the times I should have kept my mouth shut, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Selina said tersely. "It was." She paused. "You don't need to do anything else, Caroline. Thanks for your help." She left too, and Caroline was alone in the kitchen. They wouldn't let her do anything else for the wedding, but there was one thing she knew she _could_ do. She wrote up a wedding announcement and stuck it in her purse. She would take it to be put in the local paper tomorrow.

* * *

><p>Elijah woke up when something cold and wet hit his bare back. "What?" He asked sleepily.<p>

"It's snowing!" Selina said. "Get up and come outside with us!"

Elijah slowly sat up and when his vision adjusted, he saw Selina standing at the foot of the bed, fully dressed and wearing a winter coat and boots, and Gregory who was dressed same. At least he assumed it was Gregory who was buried under the bundle of clothes Selina held.

"What did you just hit me with?" He asked her.

"Snowball," Selina said.

"Ah," Elijah nodded. "Well, since you have as much as challenged me to a battle, I suppose I have no choice but to accept."

Selina nodded seriously. "If you want to keep your honor, you really have no choice."

Elijah got out of bed, dressed and then took hold of Gregory. "I think you overdressed him," He said. "He's probably suffocating."

"I just don't want him to be cold," Selina said.

Elijah removed some of Gregory's layers so that he wore a hat, a scarf, a jacket, mittens and boots. "There," Elijah said when he could finally see his son's eyes looking back at him. "That's better". Gregory grinned. He seemed to think so too.

"Are we gonna go or not?" Selina asked impatiently.

"Why are you so eager?" Elijah grinned over Gregory's shoulder. "I thought you hated snow."

Selina nodded. "I do, mostly. But all that's outside is new enough that it's not irritating yet."

"Ah," Elijah nodded. "I see."

He and Gregory followed Selina outside and had been playing around in the snow for a bit when the most extraordinary thing happened. After Selina threw a snowball at Elijah and Elijah threw a snowball at Selina, they saw Gregory struggling to get to his feet. He finally managed it, took three steps, and then fell on his bottom, right in the snow. His lip began to quiver and suddenly he burst into tears. Selina started to reach for him, but Elijah put a hand on her arm. "Don't do that!" he said. "Leave him where he is."

"But he's _crying_!" Selina said. "Look at him, poor little guy!"

"He just fell in the snow," Elijah said. "It's not like he split his head open or anything. He's not injured in any way. Don't coddle him. This is the sort of situation he has to figure out for himself."

"Okay," Selina said and reluctantly walked past Gregory as he wailed louder and louder, reaching out for her, his face getting redder and redder. Finally, Elijah picked him up so he was standing on his feet. Then he took his hand and the two of them began slowly walking across the snow, Gregory's boot prints looking impossibly tiny next to Elijah's much larger ones.

Once Gregory realized he was moving, he stopped crying and his face lit up. He looked down in fascination at his feet and began kicking up snow. Finally, they reached Selina and Elijah let Gregory go so that he fell into Selina's lap.

"Now, you may coddle him," Elijah said. "And I think we should go inside. His face is red. And not just from crying either." Selina picked Gregory up and looked him over. You know, I think you're right." They went inside and Selina gave Gregory a bath and got him into dry clothes before putting him down for a nap. Then she made some cider and while she and Elijah were drinking it, Selina said, "Roxie's getting married. In two weeks. Will you be my date?"

Elijah spit out cider all over his chair. "Did you say there's someone on this earth with the courage to marry Roxanne?"

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "So of course I have go to the wedding. Would you be my date?"

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "Roxanne getting married. That is something I will have to see to believe."

* * *

><p>Mary Anne was glad she'd saved the paper that morning. Usually, she just threw it in the trash, but an item in the life section had caught her eye.<p>

**Marriages:**

**Roxanne Amelia Mikaelson to marry Vincent Allen Talbot, January first at her father's home. Reception to follow at Enid's Bar and Grill.**

It was perfect. She could go to the wedding without any trouble. Klaus would let her in easily. Then, at _just _the right moment, she would lure the bride away, and no one would ever see her again.

Mary Anne grinned with satisfaction. She really was doing the right thing. And Roxie would be able to say something not a lot of people could nowadays: That she and this Vince would be married until death do us part.


	50. Leaving on a Jet Plane

"So you and I are getting married in two weeks," Vince said. "How about that?"

Roxie nodded. "It's really something. I know I don't want something big though. Just family, a few friends, that's all."

"Yeah," Vince nodded. "I'll have to get hold of Tessa and Uncle Pete somehow."

"Wait," Roxie said. "You want to invite Tessa?"

Vince nodded. "Of course I do. She's my sister."

"We can't invite _her_!" Roxie exclaimed. "My brother is gonna be there! You know he and Tessa used to be involved!"

Vince nodded. "Yeah, I know. So what? Tessa's got a new boyfriend and your brother is married, so there shouldn't be a problem and I have just as much right to have the few family members that I have at our wedding as you do."

"Fine," Roxie said. "But Helene is _not_ gonna like having Tessa there, and you know what she does when she's unhappy? She turns people into things! She's a witch, remember? When I was little and I pissed her off, she turned me into a _goat_!"

Vince smirked. "That's a really good image. Thanks a lot. No wonder you're scared of her."

"I'm not scared of anyone," Roxie said. "I'm just mentioning Helene's temper so that you won't be surprised if, when the wedding is over, and your sister has four legs, fur and a beard and goes 'baaaaa!'"

"Thanks for the warning," Vince said and patted her on the shoulder. "I'm gonna go talk to Enid and see what she thinks of all this."

Roxie nodded. "You do that. And I will go see about possibly getting us a band."

"You will?" Vince asked, looking surprised. "That's so helpful."

"Now, I'm not guaranteeing anything," Roxie said. "Because the lead singer is on the outs with a few other people who will be at the wedding, so I don't know if he'll want to come, but I'll try and talk him into it."

"So Sam is still mad at Damon?" Vince asked.

"Well, yeah!" Roxie said. "If you found out your dad was sleeping with your sister, wouldn't_ you _be upset with him?"

Vince stared at her for a moment. "This is just an observation," he said finally, "but have you noticed that you come from one of the most fucked up families I have ever met?"

Roxie nodded. "Yeah, I've noticed that. So it's okay with you if Sam plays?"

Vince nodded. "Yeah. The few times he's played at Enid's, he hasn't been half bad."

"All right," Roxie said. "I'll go and see if I can't hunt him down."

* * *

><p>After looking for an hour or so, Roxie still hadn't located Sam. She was about to give up when she got a call from Vince. "If you're still looking for Sam, he just walked in the door of Enid's. He's sitting at the bar. Get here as fast as you can so you can ask him while he's still sober."<p>

"All right," Roxie said. "Thanks." She hung up her phone and drove to Enid's, finding Sam just where Vince said he'd be.

"I take it things aren't going well for you," she said to him. "Gotten any more gigs lately?"

Sam shook his head. "No. The last two canceled on us. It's a real shame too. One of them was a frat party."

"Well, I have something to say that might cheer you up," Roxie said carefully. "Vince and I are getting married and I wondered if you'd do me a favor by playing at our wedding."

Sam gulped down a glass of whisky and looked at her. "You're getting married?" He asked. "Good for you!" He paused, eyes narrowed. "Is Dad gonna be there?"

"I don't know," Roxie said. "But I suspect yes. 'Cause Mom said I had to invite Lucy and I have no doubt he'll be her plus one."

"Then tell her she can't have a plus one!" Sam said.

"I can't do that!" Roxie told him. "She'll know why she can't and then she'll tattle to Mom, and that will lead to all this crap I really don't want to deal with."

"If Dad's there," Sam said firmly, "I'm not gonna play."

"Oh, come on!" Roxie said. "Lucy's leaving for Europe for a year after the wedding. She and your dad will be separated then. It won't be as bad as you think. I promise not to tell him that you're gonna be there, and since you'll be there as a member of the band rather then my brother, you'll have as little contact with him as possible. I'll make sure of it."

Sam sighed. "Fine, but it'll cost you extra."

"Fine," Roxie said. "Whatever. It's on New Years' Day at my Dad's house. I'll send you the address next week."

"Are you talking about your wedding?" Enid asked. "I'm so happy that you're having the reception here."

"Well, where else would we have it?" Vince asked. "Everyone we know is here."

"You make a good point," Enid said. "How's the rest of the planning coming?"

"It's not gonna be very big," Roxie said. "Just my family and his, you know. That sort of thing."

"Adrian and Tessa in the same space?" Enid asked. "Have you told them? You should probably warn them ahead of time."

"That's what I _told_ him," Roxie said. "But he thinks we have nothing to worry about."

Enid sucked in her breath. "I doubt that," she said. "I suggest you tell them as soon as possible, or I suspect you will be heading for trouble. Didn't Helene throw some sort of fit when she found out about Adrian and Tessa?"

Roxie nodded. "To say that she had a 'fit' would be putting it mildly. She died, Adrian made the mistake of flippantly telling her that she had to move on because he had, and that pissed Helene off so much that she possessed Tessa's body and made a whole big mess of things. I don't think any of us want a repeat of that. Or at least I don't."

"And I think you're underestimating them all," Vince said. "I think they have moved beyond that by now and the three of them will be able to deal with each others' presence in a calm and mature fashion."

* * *

><p>"Did you see this?" Helene asked Adrian, holding up the envelope that had Roxie and Vince's wedding invitation in it. "Apparently, your sister is getting married."<p>

Adrian burst out laughing. "Good one. Now tell me the one about why the chicken crossed the road."

"To get to the other side," Lenora said. "I don't like that joke. It's not funny."

"I'm not joking!" Helene said. She threw the envelope on his plate and then reached for an apple. "Just _read_ that, would you?"

Adrian looked at her for a brief moment, a smirk on his face, and then turned his attention to the envelope. He pulled the invitation out and read it. "Oh, my god," he said, looking flabbergasted. "Roxie's getting married."

"That's what Mommy _told_ you!" Lenora said. "Are you having trouble listening?!"

Adrian shook his head. "No, sweetie. It's just that, if you knew your Aunt Roxie as well as your mother and I do, you'd find it hard to believe that there's someone out there with the guts to marry her too."

Helene was about to respond, but just then, a loud bark echoed through the kitchen, followed by an irritated meow and hiss.

"Sounds like Rusty is chasing Snowball again," Helene told Lenora. "Why don't you go check on them to see if they're okay."

Lenora got off her chair and nodded. "All right," she said. "I'm so glad Rusty is a dog again. He scared me when he was a person."

"He scared a lot of people when he was a person," Adrian said dryly. "After you check on him and Snowball, I want you to come back here and finish your breakfast, and then you and I are gonna clean your room."

"I don't need help," Lenora said. "I can clean my room by myself."

"If you think so," Adrian said. "But I'm going to come and check on it after you tell me you're finished to make sure you actually did it."

"Okay," Lenora said. "I'll go check on Rusty and Snowball now."

She left and Adrian turned back to Helene, who wore a sour expression. "What's wrong with you?" He asked.

"The guy she's marrying, this Vincent Allen Talbot, why does his name seem familiar to me?"

Adrian's eyes widened for a second and then he relaxed. "I don't know," he said. "Maybe you owe him money."

"Adrian, I'm being serious!" She punched him in the arm. "Where do I know his name from?"

Adrian sighed. "I used to date his sister. You remember Tessa, don't you?"

Helene's eyes narrowed. Suddenly, the sky outside darkened, thunder crashed, and the house was plunged into darkness.

"So you _do _still remember her," Adrian said, his voice sheepish. "I kind of hoped that you'd have forgotten by now."

"What happened to the power?" Lenora called.

"It's all right," Adrian said. "Your mother is just a little upset. We'll get the lights back on in a minute."

They sat in the darkness for a few more minutes and then, slowly, Helene brought the lights back on. "So we're gonna go?"

"Of course we're going to go!" Adrian said. "Roxie is my sister and I _have_ to go. Think about this: Tessa might not be there. She might be busy. Then you will have missed out on all the fun for nothing."

"You think I'm being unreasonable, don't you?" Helene asked.

"It depends," Adrian said. "What will you do to me if I say 'yes'?"

"I am _not_ being unreasonable!" Helene said. "For god's sake, Adrian. You _slept_ with her! I'm not just gonna forget that!"

"And_ you _killed her!" Adrian shot back. "I'm not just gonna forget that either!"

"Well, then maybe we shouldn't go to the wedding," Helene said.

"I wanna go!" Adrian said.

"Why?" Helene yelled. "So you and Tessa can make out in the coat closet? You know she's gonna be there!"

"I can't believe that you'd think I'd do something like that!" Adrian said. "That's just-" He stopped as Lenora came back into the kitchen. "I checked on Snowball and Rusty, Daddy," she said. "Why are you two fighting?"

"We're not fighting," Adrian said. "What would make you think that?"

"Well, you were yelling really loud," Lenora said.

"Oh, don't lie to her, Adrian!" Helene said. "Yes, Lenora. we _were_ fighting. But we're done now." She left the kitchen and Adrian watched her go. "I bet we won't be done for long," he muttered under his breath. He then looked at Lenora. "Let's go clean your room," he said. "And I don't want to hear any arguments."

Lenora nodded. "No, Daddy. I'll be good. I promise."

* * *

><p>"Would you be interested in being my date to Roxie's wedding?" Lucy asked Damon.<p>

He nodded. "I don't see why you have to ask. You know what my answer will be."

"Well, Mom mentioned that you sometimes have issues with formal occasions," she said. "I don't want you to do anything that would make you uncomfortable."

Damon sighed. "Look, it's not long til you leave for Europe, is it?"

Lucy shook her head. "No. Less than a month."

Suddenly, Damon's eyes lit up. "I have an idea: what if, instead of going to Roxie's wedding, we have one of our own? We can get married before you leave!"

Lucy looked at him sadly. "You know we can't do that," she said. "The whole reason why I'm going to Europe now in the first place is because I feel like I need to do see the world and grow up before I do something big like get married."

"Why can't we see the world together?" Damon asked.

Lucy smiled a little and put a hand on his face. "No one said we can't," she told him. "But you've had years and years to get to experience all this stuff and I haven't. This is a big opportunity, and if I turn it down now, it will probably never happen again and lead me to have a big regret. You have regrets, right? Like about Mom? How if you hadn't listened to your father and gone off to war, then you and Mom could have gotten married and lived happily ever after?"

Damon sighed. "That _was _a regret of mine. For a very long time. But it's not anymore. Because now I know that if I would have married your mom back then, I never would have gotten to meet _you_."

Lucy felt herself start to tear up, then she sobered. "Oh, come on!" she said. "Why are we talking like this? I still have time before I leave and we'll make the most of it. And we'll start by going to Roxie and Vince's wedding together. I actually think it might be fun. Knowing the two of them, or Roxie at least, it will probably be _extremely_ unconventional." She looked Damon over. "You probably won't even have to wear a suit."

* * *

><p>"So Roxie is getting married?" Anna asked Selina. "How is Nick taking it?"<p>

"Better than I thought he would," Selina told her. "He's even letting them have the wedding at his house."

"The guy she's marrying, what's he like?" Anna asked. "Scary?"

"Remember the guy she was with at your wedding?" Selina asked.

"You mean the guy who stood in the corner looking grumpy while Roxie tried to hit on all the waiters?" Anna said. "Yeah, I remember him. He was kinda cute."

"He is the sweetest guy you will ever meet," Selina nodded. "He seems to have some sort of ability in him to make Roxie, you know, nice. I'm glad she has him in her life."

"You and Elijah are gonna go?" Anna asked.

"Elijah says that if he doesn't _see_ Roxie get married with his own eyes, he'll never believe that it happened, so yes. We're gonna go together," Selina said.

"Who's gonna watch Gregory? Do you know yet?"

"I would say your mother, but she actually decided to help with reception preparation so she's gonna be at Enid's with Ronan all day."

Anna nodded. "That's probably why she did it. I don't know what she sees in that guy. He's not so special."

"I don't know," Selina said. "I like him. He's nice."

"My father has his moments too," Anna said. "He's not so bad. He was really upset when that Mary Anne girl staked me."

"I wish I could agree with you, but your father has been wanting to kill me for more than a century now," Selina reminded her. "So you'll have to pardon me if I don't have the rosiest view of him. I never respected your mother more than when she ran him through and locked him in that box, or whatever she did." She shuddered. "I will be _more_ than happy if he stays right where he is." She gave Anna a glance. "No offense."

Anna shrugged. "None taken, I suppose. Even if he _is_ your father-in-law now and I have a feeling that if he knew about Gregory, he'd at least _try_ to get along with you."

Selina shook her head. "I will believe that when I see it, which will hopefully be never. And as far as Gregory is concerned, _would _you mind watching him?"

Anna nodded. "Sure. But only if you promise to bring me a piece of cake."

* * *

><p>The night before the wedding, Selina and Elijah dropped off Gregory and headed to Klaus'.<p>

"Well, this is a surprise," Klaus said. "But a nice one."

"I don't know _exactly_ why we're here so early," Selina said to him apologetically. "I guess Elijah just wanted to get a good seat or something."

"Well, even if you didn't have a reason to come, I'd still let you in," Klaus said. "And as luck would have it, I still have lots of room, even though you're not my only guests."

"Really?" Selina asked interestedly. "Who else is here?"

"Mary Anne," Klaus said. "It was the strangest thing. She just showed up at the front door and asked if she could come to the wedding."

"And you said _yes_?" Selina asked. "Why would you do that?"

"Because this is a family event and she _is_ family," Klaus said.

"No, she's not!" Selina shook her head vigorously. "She's the daughter of an SOB who strung me along and then dumped me. You took pity on her, and turned her. That does _not_ make her family. And have you forgotten that she _daggered your sister_? Or did that slip your mind?" Where is she? I'm gonna straighten out this misunderstanding right now!"

Klaus and Elijah locked eyes and then Elijah stood up and ran after her. "Selina!" He called. "Don't do anything rash. Please!"

"I'm not doing anything rash," Selina said. "Doing something rash would imply that.I'm being too hasty or doing something without any prior consideration. I've been considering all the stuff I've wanted to do to Mary Anne for _years_, so I'm not being rash!" She paused on the stairs and blew a raspberry at him. He paused to wipe the spit off his face and picked her up off the stairway and carried her back to the living room. "Sit here and behave yourself," he said.

"Fine," Selina said. "But I still say she's up to no good and I'm gonna stand by that."

Just then, Mary Anne came downstairs, clutching a book. "What's all the noise down here? I'm trying to read."

"Sorry," Klaus told her. "We'll try and be quieter."

Mary Anne was about to go back upstairs when Selina caught her eye. "Why are_ you_ here?" She asked.

"I'm the mother of the bride in the wedding you're crashing," Selina said tartly. "And I will be watching you."

"I'll be on my best behavior," Mary Anne said. "I wouldn't want to ruin your daughter's special day."

"Well, just see that you don't," Selina said. "You sneaky, conniving little-"

"Selina," Elijah said warningly.

Selina's mouth closed and Mary Anne giggled. "You are _so _whipped," she said. Selina's eyes widened and she rose from her seat, snatched the book from Mary Anne's hand and hit her once, soundly over the head with it. Mary Anne fell to the ground, unconscious.

"And just what did you feel the need to do that for?" Elijah asked.

"Do _neither_ of you remember that this is the person who daggered Anna?" Selina asked. "Shouldn't you be feeling some sense of vengeance toward her like you did for Lucy with Damon instead of obeying her every whim and acting like she's some innocent? She's _not_!"

Klaus looked back and forth between Mary Anne's prone body and Selina. "I haven't forgotten," he said. "It's just that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. If she tries to cause trouble at the wedding, I will deal with it. In fact, I'm more than certain she will. That's one of the reasons why I suggested it take place here."

Selina took a deep breath. "And here I thought you were just being a good sport."

"I know you seem to think that I'm oblivious when it comes to Mary Anne, but I've been paying close attention to her ever since she daggered Anna," Klaus said. "But I couldn't let _her_ know that, could I? So I'll put her to bed now and do everything I can to make her think I'm on her side, and then tomorrow, we'll see what happens."

* * *

><p>"There she is!" Helene said when she and Adrian and Lenora came through Klaus' front door. "I should have <em>known<em> she'd be the first person we'd see!"

"Who, Mommy?" Lenora asked, letting go of her mother's hand to tug on the itchy lace collar of her dress.

"Nobody, Lenora," Adrian said. "Just a woman your mother and I used to know."

"Your father knew her _very _well," Helene added.

"So she was like your best friend, Daddy?"

"No," Adrian said quickly, as Helene's expression became dark. "No, Lenora, she was nothing to me."

"Adrian!" Tessa said, coming toward them and giving Adrian a hug. "How nice to see you!" She ignored Helene and patted Lenora on the head. "Is this your little girl? She's so precious!" Just then, there was a ripping noise. "What was that?" Tessa asked. "Did you hear something?"

Lenora walked around Tessa and giggled. "Your dress is torn," she said. "Everyone can see your underpants!" Tessa's hand went back behind her and her eyes widened when she felt nothing but air where there was supposed to be skirt. She flushed. "Andrew!" She called to her date. "We have to go. It seems I've had a bit of a...wardrobe malfunction."

Her date came and stood behind her and together they walked sideways out of the room. "That was some exit, wasn't it?" Helene asked, looking at her nails.

"She had a _boyfriend_!" Adrian said. "What you did was just spiteful! Even Lenora is too mature to do something that asinine!"

"You think _I_ did that?" Helene said.

"You would have killed her if you could get away with it!" Adrian said. "But humiliating her was probably easier."

"I did it," Lenora said quietly. "Cause she was making you and Mommy fight and I thought that if she went away, you would be happy again."

Adrian and Helene looked at one another and sighed. "You're not in trouble," Adrian said, putting his arms around his daughter. "And we're sorry we upset you. We'll stop fighting now."

Helene nodded, shut her eyes and then zapped Tessa back, dress in one piece and all. "So," she said to her one-time rival, trying to keep calm. "I love your dress. Where did you get it?"

* * *

><p>"Why didn't we just elope?" Roxie asked as she looked in the mirror. "It would have been a lot easier."<p>

"Oh, I know," Vince said. "But then we would have missed out on all this fun."

Roxie rolled her eyes. "This is just cruel! Mom said she hated being paraded out in front of people like a trained monkey, so why do_ I _have to do it?"

"Because if you don't, no one will believe that it happened!" Vince said. "At least we get to have the reception at Enid's. That's a victory for you, isn't it?"

Roxie nodded and looked at herself. She looked good. She wasn't wearing a dress. Instead she wore a white halter top and white leather pants with fringe on them, and a small veil attached to a headband on her head. "It's something."

Vince nodded. "Are you gonna be all right?"

Roxie grasped his hand. "Maybe. It's not too soon for us to leave, you know."

"We're gonna be fine," Vince said. "When it's time for you to come down the aisle, take a deep breath and just look right at me."

Roxie nodded. "All right. I'll try to remember that."

"Good." Vince stood up and straightened his leather jacket. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and try to forget what you look like so I can be dumbstruck with amazement when you come down the aisle. Not that I wouldn't be anyway, but-"

"Go," Roxie said, grinning. "If you don't leave now, you know you never will." Vince hugged her one more time and left the room. Just then, there was another knock at the door. Roxie got up to open it and groaned when she saw who was on the other side. "Oh, it's you, Mary Anne. What do _you_ want?"

Mary Anne held out a glass of juice. "Your father wanted me to bring this to you," she said. "In case you were nervous."

Roxie snatched it away from her. "You can leave now," she said. "You've done your job." But Mary Anne didn't move. "Aren't you gonna drink it?" She asked. "I made it myself." She climbed on a foot stool so she and Roxie were eye to eye. "I'm not leaving until you've drunk every last drop," she said. Roxie rolled her eyes and began drinking the juice. Suddenly, her throat began to burn. She coughed and gagged and sputtered. She tried to throw the glass away, but Mary Anne jumped her and held onto the glass so that she had to keep drinking until it was empty, then she threw some more on Roxie's face, wrestling her to the floor, sticking her through with a piece of the wrought iron stair railing and then dragging to the room next door, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

><p>"How are you feeling?" Tony asked Vince as they stood in front of everyone. "Nervous Roxie's gonna run out on you?"<p>

Vince smirked. "No, she won't. You should have seen her in her dressing room. She was so nervous, it was adorable." Just then, the music started up and everyone turned expectantly toward the open doors waiting for Roxie to come out, but nobody did. The music started again. Nobody came. The room broke out into chatter. "I _thought_ this would happen!" "Looks like you owe me twenty bucks, Todd." "What a shame, I really thought Roxie would be able to commit to someone this time." "Lucky for Vince there are millions of other girls where _she_ came from."

"This isn't going well at all!" Caroline said to Klaus, who was frowning deeply. "What was Roxie thinking, making us go to all this trouble and then skipping out at the last minute!"

"I don't think she skipped out," Klaus said. "I think she's in trouble. Mary Anne came in late. She probably did something. I'll go see." As he left the room, he felt a sharp pain on his head and then everything faded to blackness.

* * *

><p>"Daddy?" Roxie said quietly as Klaus opened his eyes. "Where are we?"<p>

He sat up, his head throbbing. "I don't know. I don't even know what happened."

"Mary Anne did it," Roxie said. "She gave me juice spiked with all kinds of stuff and then she stuck me through with some railing and she must have knocked me out after that. I don't remember."

"I knew something like this would happen," he said. "I even figured it would happen today."

"And yet, you did nothing about it. What a shame." The voice was sugary sweet and very close. Mary Anne appeared, a knife in her hand, her bright pink dress making her look deceptively innocent.

"Why the hell would you do this now?" Roxie said angrily. "Now everyone's probably up there muttering to themselves about what a flake I am!"

"Well, it's not like they would be lying," Mary Anne said to her. "You are. You're a terrible daughter. Leaving your father because of a man. You should be ashamed."

"Well, I'm not," Roxie said. "Now let us out!"

Mary Anne growled and ran Roxie through. She screamed in pain as blood spurted everywhere and Klaus screamed too. "_You!"_ he said. "I ought to kill you myself!"

"Why would you kill the daughter who loved you?" She asked. "The closest thing you've ever had to family in your life?" Almost negligently, she ran Roxie through with the knife again. Angrily, Klaus rose up and rushed her, his hands around her neck. As she choked, he said, "you're _not_ my family. You're the daughter of an SOB who strung Selina along and I took pity on you and turned you. I shouldn't have. I should have just let you die. But it's never too late to right a wrong. But before I kill you, I want you to have a look at Roxanne there. She's my real family. She's the only one who's ever cared about me, not you. And I never should have let myself forget that." He allowed Mary Anne to look at Roxie for a second or two and then he wrung her neck and she fell on the cold hard floor of the cavernous room they were in with a thump. Then Klaus went over to Roxie and pulled her to her feet, hugging her hard. "I'm sorry," he said. "You don't know how sorry."

"Never mind," Roxie said. "You can make it up to me by walking me down the aisle. We have to hurry before everyone leaves." As they left the room, they ran into Selina, who held her friend Olivia by the collar. "Damn!" Selina said when she saw them. "I was just looking for Mary Anne. I was gonna negotiate an exchange with her: Olivia for the two of you."

"Why would Mary Anne want Olivia?" Roxie asked.

"Simple," Selina said, giving her former friend a good rough shake. "_She_ was the one who committed the murders Mikael and Mary Anne have blamed on me all these years. Well, the last two. They were the ones that caught Mikael's attention. She made friends with me, studied my MO and then committed copycat killings in a much less competent manner than I would have done."

"Oh, please," Olivia said. "I did things much better than you and you know it!"

"Shut up!" Selina barked.

"Ring her neck," Roxie suggested. "It's what Dad did with Mary Anne."

"Oh, no," Selina said. "She put both me and I assume you in danger. She befriended you too, right?"

Roxie nodded. "That's why she's here."

"I want her punishment to be something that will last." She threw Olivia into a room, handed her the knife that Mary Anne had used to stab Roxie and then looked at Klaus. "Would you tell her that she can't leave this room and to keep stabbing herself with that?"

Olivia's eyes widened. But Klaus sat her down in chair and did as Selina asked. They shut the door on her shrieks of pain and Roxie went to get Vince. When he saw her, he hugged her tight. "I thought you were having second thoughts about marrying me."

Roxie shook her head. "No. Dad and me were being held hostage by a girl he turned into a vampire years and years ago who wanted to kill both Mom and me, but now she's dead, so let's get the show on the road."

* * *

><p>The ceremony went off without any further hitches and nothing else happened until it was time for the reception.<p>

"You know, I've been thinking about something for the last hour or so that you may or may not like," Elijah said as he and Selina drove to Enid's. "Just hear me out."

Selina nodded. "All right. What is it?"

"Well, knowing that Roxanne got taken down by Mary Anne, it makes me worry a little about Gregory," he said.

"Why?" Selina asked.

"Well," Elijah told her, "You may find this hard to believe, but I've acquired several enemies over the years and some of them would not be above kidnapping Gregory to get revenge on me. We need to keep him safe and I thought of the perfect way."

"What?" Selina asked.

"I want to undagger my father," Elijah said. "He'll keep Gregory safe."

"But he hates me!" Selina said. "He's gonna kill me first!"

"No, he won't!" Elijah said. "I promise I will not let that happen." He made a turn and Selina said, "This isn't where we're supposed to be going. Enid's is the other way!"

"I know," Elijah said. "We're going to my mother's house. That's where my father's body is being kept. When I said I was going to free him, I wasn't kidding. You can stay in the car if it would make you feel better."

"Nothing about this will make me feel better!" Selina said. When they got to Elissavetta's, Selina opted to stay in the car while Elijah went inside and searched for the coffin that held his father. It got moved from Niklaus' when he had expressed to Elissavetta a desire to get rid of Mikael for good, which was not what had been intended when they had daggered Mikael the first time.

He finally found the coffin in the basement. Taking a deep breath, he opened the coffin and gazed at his father's frozen face and chained body for a moment before taking off the chains and pulling out the dagger. After a moment, his father's eyes opened. "Hello," Elijah said. He helped his father sit up. "Where is she?" Mikael asked croakily. "Where is Lonely Heart?"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, there were other problems at the reception. Try as she might, Roxie couldn't keep Sam and Damon apart forever.<p>

"Can we talk?" Damon asked when he caught Sam trying to sneak from the bar.

"Why?" Sam asked. "Want to tell me how great Lucy is?"

"No," Damon said. "I just wanted to say that you're doing a great job. I've been enjoying your music."

Sam scoffed. "Probably because you and Lucy can dance together to it."

"Why can't you just take a compliment?" Damon asked. "Why can't you just say thank you?"

"All right," Sam said. "You want to hear a thank you? Thank you for ruining my life! It's like I can't say it enough times. What do I have to do to get the point across to you, Dad? Do I have to go to Europe with the band and try and get a record deal there or something?"

"Lucy's leaving for Europe in two days," Damon said. "You don't have to leave too."

"Yeah, I do," Sam nodded. "You don't have a clue. We've already booked a flight for tonight. I only did this as a favor to Roxie." Sam shook his head at his father and left before Damon could say another word.

* * *

><p>Two days later, things still hadn't improved for him and it was with a heavy heart that Damon drove Lucy to the airport.<p>

"This isn't goodbye you know," she said. "I'm going to come back."

"I know," Damon said. "But all that waiting is going to seem like forever. What if you forget about me?"

"I won't," Lucy said. "Did you think Mom was gonna forget about you when you left for the war?"

"I hoped she wouldn't," Damon said. He paused. "Is part of the reason why you're going to Europe so that I'll forget about you?" Damon asked. "Is it a not-so-subtle hint?"

In the rearview mirror he he saw Lucy's eyes begin to tear up. "Oh, no, don't!" he said. "I'm sorry. That was a stupid thing to say!"

"You're damn right it was!" Lucy said, sniffling. "I've tried my hardest to keep it together so things wouldn't be worse for you and then you have to go say something like that!"

Damon had the urge to park on the side of the road and put his arms around her, but when he tried, she barked at him to keep moving. "I don't wanna miss my plane!" she said. When they reached the airport, Damon held onto Lucy as she sobbed into his shirt. "I'm gonna miss you so much!" she said.

He put his chin on her hair. "I'm gonna miss you too, Cookie Monster. But don't think about that. Think about the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night, and the Louvre, and eating chocolate croissants until you can't move." She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, and she said, "You're only saying that to make me go. Thank you."

He kissed her forehead. "I'm saying it because it's true. Inside of us, we both know you belong in Paris. It's good for your work, the thing that makes you really happy. If that plane leaves the ground and you're not on it, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."

Lucy nodded. "And you'll be here when I get back? I promise I won't leave you."

Damon nodded. " I know you won't. But you've got a job to do, too. Where I'm going, you can't follow. What I've got to do, you can't be any part of. Lucy. I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that."

She grinned. "Now you're just quoting _Casablanca_."

Damon looked out the window at the plane. "I thought it was appropriate." He chucked her under the chin. "Here's looking at you, kid."

She hugged him and kissed him one last time, then picked up her bags and headed for the gate that would lead her to her plane, and to and to Paris.

"_"Au revoir!" _ Damon called. She turned. _"A bientot," _she called back, then walked through the gate and onto the plane.

The end of arc 2 of my Selina stories! Next: Bohemian Rhapsody!


End file.
